1&45 


A  GUIDE 

TO  GOTHIC 

ARCHITECTURE 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC 
ARCHITECTURE 


BY 

T.  FRANCIS  BUMPUS 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  CATHEDRALS  OF  ENGLAND,"  ETC. 


With  One  Hundred  and  Forty-thret  Illustrations 


NEW   YORK 
DODD    MEAD    &   CO. 

1914 


Urba.i 


H40 


~- 

CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.   INTRODUCTORY  SKETCH  .....  I 

II.  AN  HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  FABRIC  OF  THE 
CHURCH  AND  THE  FORM  THEREOF,  FROM 
THE  EARLIEST  AGES  TO  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE 
ELEVENTH  CENTURY  .....  24 

III.  THE  ANGLO-NORMAN  AND  TRANSITIONAL  STYLES, 

1080-1190  ...  ...        51 

IV.  THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE  OF  THE  THIRTEENTH 

CENTURY,    1190-1260          .....      107 

V.  THE   EARLY   ENGLISH   STYLE—  Continued  .  .156 

VI.   THE   EARLY   ENGLISH   STYLE  —  continued          .  .      205 

VII.   THE   DECORATED  STYLE    1276-1350  .  .  .      249 

VIII.  THE   DECORATED  STYLE—  Continued       .          .          .      282 

IX.   THE   DECORATED   STYLE  —  continued  .  301 

GLOSSARY  .  .....      341 

INDEX       .........    353 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Those  marked  *  are  from  drawings  by  MR  G.  H.  R.  WATSON. 

Portrait  of  the  Author Frontispiece 

Carlisle  Cathedral,  the  East  Window  .  .  Facing  page  4 

Tower  of  St  Patroclus,  Soe'st,  Westphalia  .  ,,  14 
Fa$ade  of  Monza  Cathedral  (Italian  Gothic  of  the 

Fourteenth  Century  in  Brick  and  Marble)  .  ,,  18 
Cathedral  of  Torcello  (Italian  Romanesque  of 

the  Beginning  of  the  Eleventh  Century)  .  ,,24 

Rome,  Basilica  of  Sta  Maria  Maggiore  .  ,,32 

Rome,  Basilica  of  San  Clemen te  ...  ,,  34 
Ravenna,  Nave  of  Sant  Apollinare  Nuovo 

(Sixth  Century) ,,          36 

Octagon  of  the  Dom,  Aix-la-Chapelle  (A.D.  796- 

804)  „          42 

Apse  of  Sta  Maria  Maggiore,  Bergamo  (Roman- 
esque Style  of  Lombardy)  ....  ,,  51 

Norwich    Cathedral,    the    Nave   (Anglo-Norman 

Style)       .  „          54 

Peterborough  Cathedral,  the  Choir  (Anglo- 
Norman  Style) ,,  58 

Chapel  of  St  John  in  the  Tower  of  London 

(Anglo-Norman  Style) ,,  6a 

Spanish  Romanesque  Capitals  at  Tarragona       .  ,,          64 

The  Nave,  Tournai  Cathedral  (Romanesque 

of  Belgium) ,,68 

Crypt  at  Gollingen   (Romanesque  of   Saxony)   .  ,,          68 

*Details  of  the  Anglo-Norman  and  Transition 

Periods ,,  70 

Oxford  Cathedral,  the  Choir  (late  Anglo- 
Norman)  .......  ,,72 

vii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

St  Michael's,  Hildesheim Facing  page  74 

San  Michele,  Lucca  (Examples  of  German  and 

Italian   Romanesque) ,,74 

Abbey  Church  at  Gernrode  (Saxon  Roman- 
esque of  the  Tenth  Century)  ...  ,,  76 

Nave  of  Angers  Cathedral ,,          78 

South  Transept  of  Soissons  Cathedral  (Tran- 
sitional Style  of  France)  ....  ,,  78 

Sens   Cathedral,    the   Nave   (Transitional    Style 

of  France,  c.  1150) ,,  80 

Canterbury  Cathedral,  North  Aisle  of  Choir 

(Transitional  Style  of  England,  1174-80)  .  ,,  82 

Sta  Maria  Maggiore,  Toscanella  ...  ,,84 

San  Paolo  a  Ripa,  Pisa  (Examples  of  the  later 

Romanesque  of  Italy) ,,  84 

N6tre-Dame,  Clermont  Ferrand  (Romanesque 

of  Auvergne) ,,88 

Western  Porch  of  Autun  Cathedral  (Romanesque 

of  Burgundy) „  88 

Abbey  Church  of  Laach  (Rhenish  Romanesque)  ,,  90 

Nave  of  the  Church  at  Boppart  (Rhenish  Style 

of  the  Thirteenth  Century)  ....  ,,  92 

Cistercian  Church  at  Soro,  Denmark  (c.ii6o)  .  ,,  96 

The  Retro-choir,  Chichester  Cathedral  .  ,,  96 

Ripon  Cathedral  (showing  Western  Tower-arch 

of  the  Transition  Period)  ....  ,,  98 

The  Crypt,  San  Zeno,  Verona  (North  Italian 

Romanesque,  c.  1140) ,,  100 

The  Temple  Church,  London  (Circular  Portion, 

1184;  Choir,  1240) ,,  104 

Upper  Part  of  the  Facade  of  Ferrara  Cathedral 

(Italian  Gothic  of  the  Thirteenth  Century)  .  ,,  107 

*  Thirteenth  Century  Gothic  Details  ...  ,,112 

Wells  Cathedral,  the  Nave  looking  East  (Early 

English  Style) ,,114 

Rochester  Cathedral,  the  Choir  looking  East 

(Early  English  Style) ,,  116 

Choir  of  St  Victor  at  Xanten  (German  Gothic 

of  the  Thirteenth   Century)   ....  118 

viii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Nave  of  Tarragona  Cathedral  (Spanish  Gothic 

of  the  Thirteenth  Century)      ....  Facing  page  118 
Westminster  Abbey,  the  Choir  looking  West     .  ,,         120 

Ground-plan  of  the  Apse  of  Westminster  Abbey  .  ,,         120 

Ground-plan  of  the  Apse  of  Rheims  Cathedral  .  ,,120 

Chichester  Cathedral  from  the  North-east  .         .  „         124 

St  David's  Cathedral  from  the  South-east  (show- 
ing English  Mode  of  Choir  Extension)         .  ,,         124 
Church  of   St   Omer   (Northern    French   Gothic 

of  the  Thirteenth  Century)     .         .         .         .  ,,         128 

Magdeburg   Cathedral    (German    Gothic   of   the 

Thirteenth    Century)        .....  ,,         132 

Canterbury  Cathedral,  the  Choir  looking  West, 

Eastern  Transept  in  the  Foreground  .         .  ,,         136 

Ground-plans  of  English  Cathedral  Choirs        .  .,,         140 

Southwell    Cathedral    (the    Square-ended    Early 

English   Choir) „         142 

St  Hilaire,  Poitiers,  the  Apse       ....  „         144 

St  Maurice,   Vienne ,,         144 

Apse  of  the  Cathedral  at  Clermont  Ferrand       .  ,,         146 

Nave  of  the  Cathedral  at  Bruges       ...  ,,         146 

South-east  View  of  the  Minster  at  Bonn  (Rhenish 

Romanesque) ,,         148 

St    Gereon's,    Cologne    (Rhenish    Style    of    the 

Thirteenth    Century) „         148 

St  Elizabeth's  at  Marburg  (1235-1283)         .         .  „         150 

The  Dom  at   Minden   (Church   with    Nave  and 

Aisles  of  the  same  height,  Germany,   latter 

part  of  Thirteenth  Century)  ...  ,,         152 

Basilica  of  Sta  Agnese,  Rome      ....  „         154 

Ground-plans     of     the     Churches     at    Conques, 

Xanten  and  Sant  Andrea  Vercelli  ...  ,,         154 

Worcester  Cathedral,  the  Choir  looking  West    .  ,,         162 

The  Chapel,  Lambeth  Palace  (Lancet  Windows 

in   Groups)       .......  ,,         166 

Southwell  Cathedral,  the  Choir  looking  East     .  ,,         170 

Western  Portal  of  Sta  Anastasia,  Verona  (Gothic 

of  North   Italy) ,,172 

IX 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Western  Portal  of  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  at 

Treves Facing  page  174 

Northern   Portal  of  the  Cathedral  at  Chalons- 

cur-Marne ,,         174 

Early  English  Tower  and  Spire,  Oxford  Cathe- 
dral           ,,178 

St    Matthias,     Stoke    Newington    (Modern    Ex- 
ample of  the  Saddle-back  or  Gabled  Tower)  ,,        180 
Sutton    St    Mary,    Lincolnshire   (Early    English 

Tower  with  Metal  Spire)        ....  ,,         182 

Bernieres.    Normandy   (Early   Thirteenth-century 

Tower   and   Spire)      .         .         .         .         .         .  ,,         182 

Polebrook     Church,      Northamptonshire     (Early 

English  Tower  and   Spire)  ...  ,,         184 

Salisbury  Cathedral,  the  Tower  and  Spire  from 

the    Cloisters ,,         184 

Wells  Cathedral  from  the  South-east  .  ,,         186 

The    Nave,    Lucca   Cathedral        ....  ,,         190 

The  Lady  Chapel,   St   Etienne,    Auxerre  (Italian 

and     French     Gothic     of     the     Thirteenth 

Century) ,,         190 

St  Martin  Ypres,    North  Side  of  the  Choir  (c.  1220)  ,,         194 

Lincoln   Cathedral   from   the   South-east     .  ,,         205 

Westminster  Abbey,   the  Chapter-house       .  ,,210 

Salisbury  Cathedral,  the  Nave  looking  East       .  ,,210 

Ely  Cathedral,   the   Presbytery     ....  ,,214 

St   Mary,   Stamford  (Early   English  Tower  and 

Decorated    Spire)    ......  ,,         232 

Heckington    Church,    Lincolnshire        ...  ,,         238 

Darlington   Church,    Durham   (Early    English)  .  ,,         244 

Strasburg    Cathedral,    View    across    the    Nave 

(German    Gothic   of    the    latter   part    of    the 

Thirteenth    Century) ,,         249 

Columns    of    the    Decorated    Period,    Dorchester 

Abbey        .  ,,         254 

Columns    of    the    Decorated    Period,    St    Editha, 

Tarn  worth        .......  ,,         256 

The   Nave  Arcade,    St  Alban's,    Holborn      .         .  ,,         258 

Fourteenth-century   English   Arcades,   St  As^ph's 

Cathedral ,,         260 

X 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Fourteenth-century      French      Arcades,      Troyes 

Cathedral Facing  page  260 

Ripon  Cathedral,  the  East  Window  ...  ,,  264 

Exeter  Cathedral,  Studies  of  Window  Tracery  „  266 

Modern  Tower  and  Spire  of  the  Decorated 

Period,    St   Giles,   Camberwell    (Sir   Gilbert 

Scott,  Architect) ,,  268 

Tower  of  St  Mary-over-the-Water,  Miinster 

(Westphalian     Gothic     of    the     Fourteenth 

Century) ,,  270 

*  Details  of  the  Decorated  Period  ...  ,,  272 

Reredos,  St  John's,  Torquay  (G.  E.  Street, 

Architect,  1864) ,,  274 

Modern  Tower  and  Spire  of  the  Decorated 

Period,       Highnam,       Gloucester       (Henry 

Woodyer,  Architect,  1849)  ....  ,,  280 

North-east  View  of  Merton  College  Chapel, 

Oxford    (Engraved    by    Le    Keux    from    a 

Drawing  by  Mackenzie)  ....  ,,  282 

Exeter  Cathedral,  the  Choir  looking  East  .  ,,  290 

Lichfield  Cathedral,  the  Nave  ....  „  292 

Choir  of  Hereford  Cathedral  ....  ,,  301 

Choir  of  Bristol  Cathedral  (from  a  Drawing 

by  Wild,  1830) ,,  301 

St  Stephen's  Crypt,  Westminster  ...  ,,  306 

Anwick  Church,  Lincolnshire  ....  ,,  308 

Hawton  Church,  Nottinghamshire  ...  ,,  308 

Holy  Trinity,  Kensington  (Modern  Example  of 

the  Late  Decorated  Style)  .  .  .  .  ,,  312 

St  Agnes,  Kennington  Park  (Modern  Example 

of   the   Late  Decorated   Style)       .         .         .  ,,        318 

Jesse  Window,  All  Saints,   Margaret  Street       .  ,,        324 

Sta   Caterina,    Pisa       ......  ,,        330 

Tarragona  Cathedral  (Italian  and  Spanish 

Gothic  of  the  Fourteenth  Century)  .  „  330 

Canterbury  Cathedral  from  the  North  .  ,,  332 

Gloucester  Cathedral  from  the  South-west  .  ,,  334 

Dorchester  Abbey,  the  East  End  before  Restora- 
tion (from  Britton's  "  Architectural  Anti- 
quities ")  ...  „  336 

xi 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Ottery    St    Mary   Church    from    the    South-East  Facing  page  338 
Vaulted    Apse,     St     Peter's,     Vauxhall     (J.     L. 

Pearson,    Architect,    1864)      ....  ,,         341 

Geometrical      Decorated     Window,      SS.      Peter 

and   Paul,    Wantage       .....  ,, 

*  Details  of  the   Perpendicular   Period         .         .  ,, 

Chester      Cathedral,      before      its      Restoration 

(from  Drawing's  by  Whymper,   1840)     .         .  ,,         348 

Canterbury  Cathedral,   the   Nave  looking  West  ,,        348 

The     Reredos,     All     Souls'     College     Chapel, 

Oxford ,,        350 


Xll 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC 
ARCHITECTURE 

CHAPTER    I 

INTRODUCTORY      SKETCH 

ARCHITECTURE  has  been  called  "  The  Mother  of  the 
Arts,"  and  as  men  must  be  housed  as  a  matter  of 
primary  necessity,  she  can  at  least  claim  precedence 
in  regard  of  time. 

While  painting  can  depict  existing  or  imaginary 
effects,  architecture  can  create  them. 

A  picture  or  a  statue,  however  famous,  occupies 
but  a  small  space,  whereas  architecture  has  grandeur, 
proportions,  and  associations  as  handmaids  at  her 
call. 

If  painting  can  give  variety  and  contrast  of  form 
and  colour,  so  can  architecture ;  if  sculpture  claims 
an  ideal  refinement  and  an  exquisite  balance  of  parts 
as  its  own,  architecture  is  able  to  assimilate  all  these 
charms,  and  to  offer  them  a  home,  and  the  casket 
may  sometimes  be  more  delightful  than  the  jewels— 
the  shrine  than  its  enclosed  treasures. 

I  A 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Architecture  is  progressive,  and  must  keep  pace 
with  the  development  of  the  wants,  faculties,  and 
sentiments  of  mankind.  The  Decorative  Arts  arise 
from,  and  should  properly  be  attendant  upon  archi- 
tecture. 

Antiquarianism  and  ecclesiology  are  among  the 
phases  of  architectural  stud}'.  The  former  is  a  mere 
branch  of  secular  learning ;  the  latter  devotes  its 
energies  to  the  reverent  serving  and  adorning  of 
churches  in  the  best  and  fittest  manner  possible. 
Decoration  embraces  all  the  arts  of  design. 

It  is  the  office  of  architecture  to  illustrate  the  forces 

by  which  construction  is  maintained ;  and  as  a  master 

of  fine  arts  it  presses  into  its  service  all  others  which 

can  aid  towards  that,  its  one  great  central  purpose. 

These  forces  are  as  a  stream  of  life  in  the  dull  blocks 

through  which  they  flow.   Architecture  gives  form  and 

feature  to  them  as  things  of  vitality  which  we  can  then 

fix  upon  and  delight  in  ;  and  thus  a  building  clothed  in 

the  elements  of  its  own  life  rises  into  being,  a  creature 

of  living  art,  a  thing  of  beauty.     With  the  theory  of 

architecture   thus   understood,    the   ancillary   arts   of 

sculpture,  wall  painting,  stained  glass,  tapestry  and 

so  forth  cluster  around  it  with  all  their  music  of  form 

and  colours.     It  is  thus  that  the  arts  of  design  step  in. 

Th'fir  business   is   to    interpret   all    that,    to   give   it 

emphasis,  to  spread  a  sense  of  ease,  happiness,  and 

completeness  everywhere.     Then  comes  colour  to  add 

riches  and  plenty  to  what  the  other  arts  have  begun, 

rind  to  perfect  those  evidences  of  life  and  thought  and 

movement  which  they  draw  out. 

Such,    we    may   conceive   to   be    the   true   theory  of 

2 


INTRODUCTORY  SKETCH 

architectural  decoration.  It  applies  to  colouring  as 
much  as  to  form. 

It  gives  a  key  to  all  that  the  artist  has  to  do.  All 
is  then  based  on  principle. 

We  might  invent  safely,  because  these,  our 
creations,  would  not  be  things  of  whim  and  conceit, 
but  of  reason. 

The  treatment  of  sacred  subjects  upon  the  walls  and 
in  the  windows  of  churches  demands  the  most  careful 
thought.  The  highest  art  is  unsatisfactory  when  it 
is  not  in  perfect  relation  to  the  place  it  fills.  A 
painting  or  a  stained-glass  window  may  be  beautiful, 
but  its  pleasure  is  marred  by  some  latent  circumstance 
— that  circumstance  is  that  its  conditions  have  not 
been  fulfilled.  For  instance,  it  is  the  painter's  object 
to  get  rid  of  surface,  to  realise  open  space.  It  is  the 
architect's  object  to  maintain  surface,  and  to  realise 
solidity.  Here  is  an  antagonism  perfect  and  com- 
plete. The  reconciliation,  however,  may  be  perfect, 
and  the  result  admirable,  if  only  the  painter  would 
realise  the  conditions  under  which  he  is  placed.  Wall 
painting  places  his  work  under  different  conditions  to 
that  of  a  picture,  and  every  principle  of  it  is  changed. 
It  may  be  argued  that  the  painter's  art  gains  by  it, 
that  it  magnifies  his  office,  it  evidences  its  power  to 
be  admirable  under  conditions  even  the  most  adverse 
to  itself.  The  greatest  triumph  in  art  is  the  fulfilment 
of  its  conditions.  Wall  and  glass  painting  must 
therefore  be  recognised  as  distinct  phases  of  art,  and 
each  admirable  under  its  own  conditions. 

If  our  age  is  one  of  revival,  it  is  also,  without  doubt, 
one  of  great  earnestness.  With  religion  to  inspire 

3 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

the  arts,  and  the  arts  to  lend  their  aid  to  the  expression 
of  religion,  we  may  learn  to  love  things  of  beauty,  and 
still  "  keep  ourselves  from  idols,"  and  bless  God  Who 
has  clothed  all  things  with  beauty,  it  may  be  for  His 
own  pleasure,  but  certainly  for  our  happiness. 

The  beauties  of  architecture  are  referable  to  the 
beauties  of  utility,  of  regularity,  of  delicacy,  and  of 
association.  Why  is  the  east  window  of  Carlisle 
Cathedral  beautiful  ?  Let  us  endeavour  to  follow 
what  passes  in  the  mind  in  looking  at  this  celebrated 
piece  of  architecture. 

It  is,  in  the  first  place,  Gothic,  and  there  is  an 
association  in  favour  of  Gothic  architecture ;  we  have 
heard  it  is  beautiful,  and  are  prepared  to  admire  it. 
The  stonework  is  very  light,  and  therefore  does  not 
obstruct  the  passage  of  the  sun's  rays,  nor  does  it 
give  us  the  idea  of  labour  uselessly  employed,  but  on 
the  contrary  the  idea  of  delicacy,  which  has  already 
been  stated  to  be  a  cause  of  beauty.  It  is  full  of  regular 
figures  neatly  cut,  which  it  is  not  easy  to  make  of  stone. 
The  whole  is  a  regular  figure,  and  bears  a  just 
proportion  to  the  size  of  the  building.  As  to  the 
different  orders  of  architecture,  it  is  quite  impossible 
to  assent  to  the  observations  of  those  who  would  con- 
tend that  their  proportions  are  absolutely  beautiful, 
that  Nature  has  made  these  proportions  originally  a 
cause  of  that  feeling,  independent  of  any  utility  to 
which  those  proportions  may  be  subservient,  and  of 
any  association  with  which  they  may  be  connected. 
The  common  sense  of  the  matter  seems  to  be  this  : 
We  see  a  pillar,  we  conceive  it  as  erected  to  support 
something.  We  know  the  nature  of  stone  and  its 

O 

4 


o 


THE   KAST    WINDOW,    CARUSI.F    (  A  HI  1'DK  AT. 


To  face  p.  4. 


INTRODUCTORY  SKETCH 

strength.  If  the  proportions  are  so  managed  that  we 
conceive  the  thing  to  be  supported  will  fall,  it  gives 
us  the  idea  of  weakness  and  frailty,  which  is  un- 
pleasant ;  if  they  are  such  as  to  indicate  a  much  greater 
degree  of  strength  than  is  wanted,  then  we  are  equally 
displeased.  Between  these  two  extremes  all  propor- 
tions are  naturally  of  equal  beauty. 

The  study  of  church  architecture  may  be  approached 
from  so  many  sides,  and  possesses  so  many  and 
varied  sources  of  attraction,  that  we  cannot  wonder 
that  persons  of  the  greatest  possible  varieties  of  tastes 
and  temperaments  should  be  found  at  the  present  day 
to  take  a  more  or  less  lively  interest  in  it.  The  wonder 
rather  is  that  any  age  should  be  found  indifferent  to  a 
subject  which  appeals  in  so  many  ways  alike  to  our 
highest  faculties  and  aspirations,  and  to  our  most 
ordinary  moods  and  everyday  habit  of  thought.  No 
one  in  whom  there  lingers  any  feeling  of  association 
with  the  past — of  delight  in  what  is  beautiful — of  awe 
at  what  is  lofty  and  sublime,  or  of  reverence  for  that 
which  enshrines  and  shadows  forth  holy  things — can 
really  be  indifferent  to  the  charms  of  ecclesiastical 
architecture,  and  to  call  attention  to  any  part  of  this 
wide  subject  is  to  open  a  book  which  all  must  read  with 
delight,  or  take  a  pleasure  in  hearing  read  by 
others. 

The  history  of  church  architecture,  whether  English 
or  Continental,  is  so  closely  allied  with  the  progress 
of  civilisation  and  the  general  history  of  the  several 
countries  which  compose  the  map  of  Europe  that 
it  is  impossible  to  understand  the  one  without  some 
knowledge  of  the  other. 

5 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Every  country  develops  by  degrees  its  own  litera- 
ture, art,  and  architecture,  and  when  a  country  has 
developed  its  own  characteristics  there  is  no  necessity 
of  seeking  further  foreign  traits.  English  archi- 
tecture was  the  result  of  climate,  material,  and  race 
— the  combination  of  Celtic,  Norman,  and  Saxon 
elements ;  its  development  has  been  continuous, 
and  every  successive  age  has  given  us  something 
new. 

In  our  own  country  the  history  of  Gothic  archi- 
tecture begins,  for  all  reasonable  purposes,  with  the 
coining  of  the  Normans,  and  ends  with  the  Reform- 
ation. During  this  period  of  about  five  hundred 
years  it  passed  through  a  certain  career  of  continual 
movement.  It  never  rested.  So  it  is  with  all  human 
enterprises  that  are  worth  anything ;  they  never  rest. 
There  is  nothing  peculiar  in  this  respect  about 
architecture.  Not  only  so,  but  in  different  localities 
the  "  mode  "  came  to  be  carried  out  with  considerable 
variety.  Under  special  influences  also,  as  for  instance 
those  of  the  rival  religious  organisations,  there  arose, 
of  necessity,  certain  corresponding  schools  of  art. 
Then,  as  now,  no  doubt  every  designer  considered  that, 
to  do  a  thing  well,  he  must  do  it  himself;  and  it  was 
almost  impossible  to  find  anyone  so  devoid  of  self- 
confidence  as  to  fail  to  take  occasion  to  improve  upon 
the  work  of  everybody  else.  As  the  natural  conse- 
quence, the  authentic  Gothic  of  England  is  a  thing 
of  infinite  variety. 

A  superficial  examination  of  the  remains,  however, 
was  enough  to  satisfy  the  very  earliest  of  our  modern 
students  of  the  old  method  that  the  succession  of  steps, 


INTRODUCTORY  SKETCH 

however  indistinguishable  individually,  by  which  the 
style  had  passed  from  the  forms  of  the  Normans  to 
those  of  the  Tudors,  followed  a  certain  undeviating 
course  which  corresponded  exactly  with  the  progress 
of  time,  and  which,  as  a  matter  of  development,  both 
of  form  and  detail,  first  began  with  the  semicircular 
arch  and  its  characteristic  accompaniments,  then 
forsook  this  almost  suddenly  for  a  pointed  arch  of  the 
acutest  pitch,  with  other  features  of  the  same 
character,  and  upon  this  basis  advanced  systematically 
in  the  direction  of  depressing  the  arch  more  and 
more — its  accompaniments  changing  to  correspond — 
until  at  last  the  style  died  out  with  the  latest  and 
feeblest  of  all  possible,  "  four  centred  '  curves, 
associated  with  the  flattest  and  feeblest  of  treatment 
generally. 

There  are  obviously  two  ways  of  endeavouring  to 
accomplish  a  nomenclature  here ;  we  may  go  either 
by  dates  or  by  forms,  for  the  progress  of  the  times 
and  the  progress  of  the  style  went  in  such  close  corres- 
pondence that  either  would  answer  the  purpose. 
Accordingly,  the  principles  of  nomenclature — that  is, 
of  classification — which  were  one  after  another  tried, 
were  such  as  the  following.  As  regards  the  period 
of  time  in  question,  the  term  Mediaeval  as  a  name 
for  the  style  at  large  was  acceptable  enough.  As 
regards  artistic  character,  the  term  Pointed  was 
adopted — excluding  of  course  the  Norman. 

The  designation  Gothic  was  at  first  a  mere  hasty 
phrase,  although  it  has  outlasted  the  special  popu- 
larity of  both  the  others.  The  name  of  Christian 
was  duly  advanced  as  in  particular  honour  of  the 

7 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

style,  and  by  no  means  inappropriately  so;  but  this 
at  least  came  to  nothing.  For  a  characteristic  dis- 
crimination of  the  successive  phases  of  the  mode,  we 
had  first  such  classifications  as  these  : — the  round- 
arched,  the  early  pointed,  the  middle  pointed,  and  the 
late  pointed;  otherwise  the  first,  second,  and  third 
pointed;  and  again,  the  Norman,  the  Early  English 
or  Lancet,  the  Decorated,  and  the  Perpendicular. 
It  was,  on  the  other  hand,  maintained  that  the  best 
scheme  would  be  that  which  troubled  itself  least  about 
fashionable  characteristics  of  taste,  and  depended 
most  upon  such  a  thing  as  the  indisputable  progress 
of  time,  or,  for  the  sake  of  a  certain  emphasis,  upon 
the  order  of  Kings — making  use  of  their  majesties  by 
way  of  milestones.  So  we  came  to  hear  of  eleventh- 
century  work,  twclftli,  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  and 
fifteenth,  and  of  such  subdivisions  as  late  twelfth 
or  early  fourteenth ;  a  way  of  treating  the  case  which 
undoubtedly  offers  certain  important  advantages ;  for 
it  admits  of  being  applied  to  other  national  develop- 
ments as  so  many  harmonious  parts  of  the  whole 
European  style.  It  can  also  be  used  for  other  arts  as 
well  as  architecture,  considered  as  kindred  systems 
in  full  correspondence  with  it ;  besides  that  desig- 
nation by  date  need  not  be  confined  to  the  works  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  but  may  be  employed  to  give  a 
tangible  idea  to  such  useful  phrases  as  ninth  and 
tenth-century  work,  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and  so 
on ;  and  to  connect  these  terms  with  any  particular 
country,  or  any  particular  sphere  of  art,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  one  another.  As  regards  also  classi- 
fication by  the  reigns  of  Sovereigns,  most  people  have 

8 


INTRODUCTORY  SKETCH 

heard  so  much  of  the  style  of  this  and  that  Edward  * 
or  Henry  as  to  be  able  to  understand  the  allusion 
pretty  well ;  although  the  chief  feeling  awakened  has 
sometimes  been  one  of  wonder  with  regard  to  the 
memory  for  dates  which  the  speakers  in  that  manner 
must  either  possess  of  themselves  or  suppose  to  be 
possessed  of  others. 

In  the  ensuing  pages  the  terms  "  Norman," 
"  Transitional,"  "  Early  English,"  "  Decorated," 
and  "  Perpendicular,"  will  be  used  to  designate  the 
several  periods  of  English  architecture. 

These  terms  were  first  made  use  of  in  the  early  part 
of  the  last  century,  when  the  true  principles  of  ecclesi- 
astical architecture  began  to  be  revived  after  having 
lain  dormant  for  nearly  two  centuries  and  a  half, 
by  such  writers  on  the  subject  as  John  Rickman, 
John  Henry  Parker,  Professor  Willis,  Dr  Whewell, 
G.  Ayclyffe  Poole,  and  others,  all  of  whom  were  active 
in  sowing  the  seeds  of  that  great  ' '  Gothic  Revival ' ' 
of  which  we  have  reaped  such  abundant  fruits.  This 
nomenclature  is  a  very  expressive  one,  far  more 
so  than  that  adopted  by  the  Ecclesiological  Society 
which  was  founded  at  Cambridge  in  1839.  This 
Society  which  did  much  good,  assigned  the  term 
'  Romanesque  ' '  to  the  round-arched  style  which  pre- 
vailed, roughly  speaking,  from  the  reign  of  the 
Conqueror  to  that  of  Henry  II. ;  and  First,  Second, 

*  I  may  take  the  opportunity  of  observing  that  the  characteristic 
of  the  "  Edwardian  period  "  of  architecture  is  tracery  :  Geometrical 
under  Edward  I. ;  reticulated  or  net-like  under  Edward  II. ;  flowing 
under  Edward  III.,  gradually  changing  into  the  perpendicular  or 
vertical  lines  under  Richard  II.  In  the  time  of  Edward  III.  the 
earlier  forma  of  tracery  were  used  aloti£  with  the  later. 

9 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

and  Third  Pointed  to  the  succeeding  ones,  each  of 
which  was  developed  from  the  other  so  imperceptibly 
that  it  is  impossible  to  fix  any  precise  date  for  the 
termination  of  one  or  the  commencement  of  another. 
On  the  Continent,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  change  of 
style  was  parallel  with  that  of  England.  The  terms 
Romanesque,  Early  Pointed,  Middle  Pointed,  and 
Flamboyant  will  therefore  be  appropriately  used  when 
occasion  serves  in  speaking  of  the  architecture  of  our 
foreign  neighbours. 

To  circumscribe  the  limits  of  the  student  of  ecclesi- 
astical Gothic  is  an  invidious,  not  to  say  impossible 
task,  so  much  depending  upon  individual  tastes  and 
proclivities,  or  upon  that  particular  epoch  of  the  art 
which  he  intends  to  take  for  his  study. 

To  the  student  of  the  round-arched  style  as  brought 
to  perfection  in  this  country  during  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, the  vast  cathedrals  of  Ely,  Peterborough,  and 
Norwich  will  make  a  special  appeal ;  the  exquisite 
early  thirteenth-century  Gothic  of  the  minsters  and 
ruined  abbeys  of  Yorkshire  affords  subjects  of  inex- 
haustible delight ;  the  steepled  fens  of  Lincolnshire 
may  be  the  destination  of  some ;  of  others  the  more 
varied  districts  of  those  counties  through  which  the 
Nene  and  the  O.use  pursue  their  sinuous  courses- 
districts  where  the  architecture  of  every  epoch  is  of 
the  very  best  kind,  and  where  every  town  and  almost 
every  village  is  endowed  with  a  church  of  moderate 
proportions,  remarkable  either  for  skilful  grouping  of 
parts,  excellence  of  detail,  or  as  presenting  some  archi- 
tectural problem  worthy  of  solution.  The  vast, 

lantern-like  fifteenth-century  churches  of  Norfolk  and 

10 


INTRODUCTORY  SKETCH 

Suffolk  ;  the  towers  of  Somersetshire ;  the  red  sandstone 
churches  of  Shropshire  and  Cheshire;  each  county 
should  be  indeed  a  school — for  each  is  a  school — where 
those  who  run  may  read,  and  where  volumes  of 
ancient  art  lie  open  for  all  inquirers. 

There  they  may  learn  that  the  same  perfection  of 
design  is  to  be  found  in  the  simplicity  of  the 
village  steeple  in  the  Wealds  of  Kent  and  Sussex,  as 
in  the  soaring  spire  of  Lincolnshire,  Leicestershire, 
or  Northamptonshire ;  in  the  sturdy  battlemented 
towers  of  Herts,  Bedford,  and  Kent,  as  in  the  aspiring 
grandeur  of  the  Yorkshire  Hedon  and  Howden,  or 
the  Somersetshire  Wrington  and  Taunton ;  in  the 
flint  walls  of  East  Anglia,  as  in  the  hewn  stone  of 
Gloucestershire  and  Wiltshire — that  consistency  of 
proportion  has  stunted  the  pillars  of  the  simple  nave, 
and  roofed  it  with  massive  beams,  while  it  has  lifted 
the  shafts  of  the  cathedral  to  a  prodigious  height  and 
vaulted  the  vast  space  with  stone — that  architectural 
skill  consists  in  embodying  and  expressing  the  struc- 
ture required,  and  not  in  disguising  it  by  borrowed 
features.  The  farm-house,  the  baronial  hall,  the 
royal  castle  may  be  each  perfect  of  its  kind ;  the 
student  should  visit  village  and  town,  hamlet  and 
city ;  he  should  be  a  minute  observer  of  the  animal 
and  vegetable  creation,  of  the  grand  effects  of  Nature, 
for  ideal  scenery  has  great  effect  upon  church 
architecture. 

It  requires  no  professional  eye  to  appreciate  the 
marvellous  beauty  with  which  the  architects  of  the 
Middle  Ages  adapted  the  particular  cathedral  or 
church  to  the  particular  locality — seashore,  river- 

ii 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

side,  mountain-top,  hill-slope,  wooded  dell,  and  where 
not  else. 

Take  a  home  instance.  Within  thirty  miles  of 
London  there  are  three,  having  a  certain  connection 
with  each  other,  all  in  the  same  county,  Surrey, 
which — two  of  them  at  least — are  curious  examples 
of  the  way  in  which  a  gentle  hill,  gentle  that  is  for 
any  country  but  England,  may  be  capped  with  a 
chapel,  so  exactly  suiting  (if  we  may  judge  from  the 
remains)  the  contour  of  the  hill,  and  the  general 
character  of  the  surrounding  scenery.  These  are  the 
chapels  of  St  Anne,  St  Martha,  and  St  Catherine. 
St  Martha,  the  only  one  which  is  perfect  and  in  use, 
is  that  which  crowns  the  hill  of  its  own  name,  to  the 
right  of  the  Reigate  and  Reading  line.  St  Catherine's, 
a  very  singular  ruin  of  the  fourteenth  century,  is  in 
the  outskirts  of  Guildford  ;  St  Anne's — a  name  so 
well  known  from  its  hill  having  been  Fox's  country- 
seat — has  disappeared. 

Now  let  us  take  a  foreign  instance — the  once 
cathedral  church  of  St  Bertrand  de  Coniminges,  a 
noble  example  of  the  same  position.  It  crowns  a 
solitary  conical  mountain,  one  of  the  detached  van- 
guard of  the  Pyrenees.  Height  is  its  distinguishing 
feature ;  a  western  tower  of  very  noble  Romanesque ; 
a  nave  without  aisles  begun  in  1304  and  finished  half 
a  century  later;  a  choir  with  eleven  chapels,  partly 
Gothic,  partly  Renaissance,  finished  on  Christmas 
Eve,  1535.  The  want  of  aisles,  sadly  felt  in  the 
interior,  gives  an  imposing  appearance  of  greater 
height.  Its  situation  is  most  magnificent.  There  it 
stands,  isolated  in  the  foreground,  the  whole  central 

12 


INTRODUCTORY  SKETCH 

line  of  the  Pyrenees  behind  it ;  in  the  furthest  distance 
Maladetta,  monarch  of  the  central  Pyrenees  culmin- 
ating in  the  Pic  de  Nethou.  Nearer,  the  Venasque 
chain  dark  with  their  pines — a  noble  contrast  to  the 
stainless  snow  of  Maladetta ;  from  the  Aran  line,  that 
talks  in  Catalan  to  the  Gours  Blanc,  that  looks  down 
on  Pau,  and  nearest  and  lowest,  glowing  in  the  loveliest 
of  green  tints,  the  mountain  pastures  of  the  Val  de  la 
Freche  and  that  de  Picu.  Projected,  as  it  were,  on 
some  bright  spot  of  the  latter,  is  the  dark,  towering 
mass  of  St  Bertrand  de  Comminges. 

A  few  words  may  be  said  here  about  local  colouring. 
When  on  a  tour  some  years  ago  among  the  great  red 
brick  churches  of  Denmark  and  the  Baltic  Provinces, 
I  was  walking  one  evening  in  late  summer  from 
Odensee  to  Middelfart  on  the  Island  of  Fynen.  As 
the  sun  was  setting  I  reached  the  brow  of,  for  Den- 
mark, a  very  steep  and  high  hill;  and  then,  looking 
to  the  south-west,  and  catching  the  churches  which 
cluster  there  as  thickly  as  in  Leicestershire,  that  rich 
deep  tint  which  six  or  seven  centuries  impart  to  brick 
drawn  out  to  its  full  in  the  red  rays  of  the  setting  sun , 
I  thought  I  had  never  seen  a  more  charming  ecclesi- 
astical landscape.  And  a  curious  proof  from  the 
opposite  side  of  the  question  was  this.  A  few  days 
after  I  was  at  Cologne.  I  know  no  view  I  admire 
more  in  its  way  than  that  of  the  city  as  seen  from 
Deutz,  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Rhine,  with  the 
great  apsidal  choir  of  the  cathedral  well-nigh  concealed 
in  a  forest  of  flying  buttresses,  and  the  towers  and 
spires  of  St  Cunibert's,  St  Martin's  and  other 
churches  rising  above  the  densely  packed  house-tops. 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

I  reached  Cologne  late  at  night ;  the  first  thing  on 
waking  in  the  morning  I  went  to  the  window  to  feast 
with  the  view  once  again.  I  could  not  imagine  what 
made  the  whole  scene  so  tame  and  colourless  and 
insipid ;  but  then  I  remembered  that  for  a  month 
before  I  had  been  among  churches  that  possessed  the 
richest  and  deepest  of  external  colour. 

Turn  to  France.  Take  a  map  of  that  country 
divided,  not  into  its  modern  Departments,  but  into 
its  ancient  Provinces — Normandy,  Brittany,  Cham- 
pagne, French  Flanders,  the  lie  de  France,  Burgundy, 
Auvergne,  Provence,  Languedoc,  Gascony,  Guienne, 
Poitou,  Anjou.  Each  of  these  provinces  is  the  home 
of  a  distinct  architectural  style — whether  round 
arched  or  pointed  Gothic — with  striking  peculiarities. 
Cross  the  frontier  into  Germany,  and  a  totally  different 
school  presents  itself  in  that  fine  series  of  cathedrals 
and  churches  along  the  course  of  the  Rhine — Neuss, 
Cologne,  Bonn,  Mayence,  Speyer,  Worms,  etc.,  with 
their  picturesque  grouping  of  towers,  transepts,  and 
apses. 

Then  leaving  this  district  and  going  in  a  north- 
easterly direction  the  student  will  find  a  series  of 
towns  full  of  local  peculiarities  quite  .unlike  those  of 
the  Rhine.  Minister,  for  instance  with  its  unclere- 
storied  churches  of  great  height,  externally  without 
distinction  between  the  naves  and  the  aisles,  and 
terminating  in  apses  of  three  or  five  sides  lighted  by 
immensely  tall  windows ;  or  Soest,  where  the  beautiful 
Church  of  St  Mary  in  the  Meadows  affords  one  of  the 
best  evidences  of  what  Germans  could  do  in  their 
palmiest  days;  and  where  the  Dom,  or  Church  of 


TOWER    OF     ST.     I'ATROt  I.l'S,     SOKST,     \\FSTriIAI.IA. 


To  face  p.    1 4. 


INTRODUCTORY  SKETCH 

St  Patroclus  shows  us  an  example  of  Romanesque  of 
the  most  grand  kind  in  its  remarkable  western  steeple 
which  is  gabled  on  each  side  and  crowned  with  an 
octagonal  spire  of  copper.  In  towns  like  these,  and 
Paderborn,  Lemgo,  Herford,  Osnabriick,  Minden  and 
Hildesheim,  a  rich  store  of  architectural  matter  will 
be  found ;  and  then  venturing  still  farther  north-east 
we  are  confronted  at  Brandenburg,  Ratzeburg,  Havel- 
berg,  Liibeck,  Prenzlau,  Tangermiinde,  Wismar, 
Danzig,  etc.,  with  abundant  examples  of  the  German 
mode  of  building  in  brick,  developed  in  a  group  of 
great  churches  quite  unlike  any  others  in  Germany, 
and  most  interesting  in  every  point  of  view. 

Then  again  there  are  those  curious  churches  at 
Brunswick  and  Halberstadt,  Magdeburg  and  Burg 
whose  west  fronts,  rising  far  above  the  roofs,  and  con- 
trived apparently  solely  for  the  sake  of  obtaining 
space  for  the  display  of  immense  window  traceries, 
are  so  completely  local  and  so  thoroughly,  one  may 
say,  an  invention. 

Here  too  we  see  the  churches  almost  invariably 
with  gabled  aisles — sometimes  as  at  Herford,  Lemgo 
and  Minden,  so  gabled  at  the  sides  that  one  doubts 
which  is  the  side  and  which  the  end,  and  sometimes 
filled  with  tracery  and  panelling  of  extreme  beauty. 
Then  again  at  Halberstadt,  Erfurt,  Naumburg,  Miihl- 
hausen  and  other  towns  of  Saxony  some  of  the  most 
excellent  work  in  all  Germany  of  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries  may  be  seen.  And  travelling 
farther  south,  to  where  Nuremberg  and  Rothenburg 
transport  us  in  almost  all  externals  to  the  sixteenth 
century,  or  where  Ratisbon  to  the  thirteenth,  we  find 

15 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

ourselves  again  in  the  neighbourhood  of  brick 
churches,  at  Landshut  and  Munich;  and  lastly,  Frei- 
burg im  Breisgau  presents  us  with  one  of  the  very 
best  of  German  churches,  eclipsed  though  it  undoubt- 
edly is  by  the  unequalled  (in  Germany)  nave  of  the 
thoroughly  German  cathedral  of  Strasburg. 

Much  there  is  to  be  learnt  in  all  these  churches- 
inferior  though  they  may  be  to  their  English  and 
French  compeers  in  the  skill  displayed  in  their 
ground-planning,  and  in  the  combined  boldness  and 
delicacy  of  their  detail — not  only  in  architectural 
matters,  but  even  much  more  in  ecclesiological,  for 
with  the  exception  of  Spain  nowhere  in  Europe  can 
the  furniture  of  the  Middle  Ages  be  better  or  more 
extensively  studied  than  in  Germany. 

Turn  to  the  north  of  Italy  and  we  find  the  proto- 
types of  the  Rhine  churches  in  Lombardy — Pavia, 
Bergamo,  Piacenza,  Cremona,  Modena  and  Sant 
Ambrogio  at  Milan — the  region  where,  after  the  fall 
:>f  the  Empire,  sacred  architecture  first  acquired  a 
complete  and  intelligently  organised  style,  partaking 
both  of  the  Roman  and  the  Byzantine,  whilst  in 
certain  features  differing  from  both — the  style  which, 
in  fact,  continued  dominant  in  the  West  from  the  fifth 
to  the  eleventh  century,  co-extensively  with  the 
Latin  Church.  Then  for  a  lighter  and  more  refined 
handling  of  the  Romanesque  we  may  turn  to  the 
Tuscan  cathedrals  and  churches  in  Pisa  and  Lucca,  in 
Pistoja  and  Prato,  where  we  may  see  the  concentration 
of  artistic  beauties  and  elaborate  decoration  in  natural 
polychromy  in  their  marble  fa9ades,  in  which  the 
patriotism  as  well  as  piety  of  those  who  raised  them 

16 


INTRODUCTORY  SKETCH 

appears.  At  Orvieto  and  Siena,  at  Assisi  and  Arezzo; 
at  Verona  and  Venice  we  see  the  Gothic  of  the  thir- 
teenth century  worked  out  with  an  allied  delicacy  and 
boldness  by  men  of  strenuous  power,  who  could  make 
brick  and  marble  follow  their  bidding,  and  use  them 
without  vulgarity.  These  north  Italian  cathedrals 
are  like  vases  filled  with  the  memories  of  the  Past 
and  the  gems  of  Genius — foci  in  which  are  concen- 
trated the  thoughts  and  energies  of  ages ;  the 
successive  schools  of  art,  from  naive  simplicity  to 
developed  excellence ;  the  spirit  of  the  Middle  Ages 
and  that  of  the  Italian  Renaissance  all  fused  together, 
with  a  result  in  effect  that  baffles  criticism. 

Whence  comes  all  this  variety  ?  from  whim,  love 
of  novelty,  the  trafficking  spirit  of  composition  ?  The 
reason  is  the  same  as  that  which  caused  the  difference 
between  Hamlet  and  Macbeth,  Lear  and  Othello,  the 
Faerie  Queene  and  Paradise  Lost. 

Men  of  mind  were  at  work  whose  genius  was  not 
exhausted  by  a  single  effort ;  uniting  great  originality 
with  great  patience  and  enduring  labour,  and  a 
thorough  systematic  education  in  their  art.  The 
endless  variety  of  Romanesque  and  pointed  archi- 
tecture is  not  only  seen  in  the  difference  of  building 
from  building,  but  in  rich  profusion  in  the  different 
parts  of  the  same  edifice.  Nor  is  it  only  in  cathedrals 
and  greaf  churches,  but  even  the  smallest  and  humblest 
— especially  in  England — have  also  their  share.  The 
reason  of  this  is  that  machinery  was  not  yet  invented. 
The  endless  forms  were  all  to  be  cut  honestly  in  stone, 
and  the  workman  relieved  his  labour  by  varying  it 
according  to  his  fancy.  This  brought  out  the  creative 

17  B 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

faculty  of  the  soul,  gave  lightness  and  strength  to 
the  arm,  and  stamped  a  living  character  on  the  result, 
which  no  tame  copying  can  ever  reach. 

We  are  told  that  eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard 
glories  such  as  those  that  shall  hereafter  be  revealed 
to  us.  We  must  allow,  therefore,  that  it  would  hardly 
be  a  reasonable  way  of  preparing  ourselves  for  the 
appreciation  of  such  to  shut  our  eyes  and  close  our 
ears  to  the  lesser,  but  by  no  means  small,  glories 
with  which  even  now  we  are  liberally  surrounded. 

Among  these  glories  are  our  cathedrals  and  churches. 
Through  Christendom  a  nation's  churches  are  tokens 
and  monuments  of  a  nation's  faith ;  and  no  nation 
has  such  churches  as  England.  One  who  had  visited 
churches  throughout  Europe,  and  knew  more  of  the 
churches  of  England  and  of  Europe  than  any  man 
in  this  country,  used  to  say  that  England  had  a  greater 
number  of  noble  parish  churches  than  all  the  rest  of 
Europe  together.  This  surely  speaks  the  faith  of 
our  fathers.  This  surely  is  the  monument  of  a 
nation's  life. 

There  was  a  time  when  their  decay  was  a  witness 
against  us,  yet  their  restoration  testifies  that  life  is 
not  extinct  in  us,  that  with  all  the  struggles,  changes, 
rises  and  falls  of  our  religious  history,  still  the  life  of 
God  is  in  the  Church,  and  still  the  Church's  life  is  in 
the  land. 

If  our  parochial  churches  are  unrivalled,  our 
cathedral  churches  will  well  bear  comparison  with 
the  grandest  in  Europe.  Considering,  indeed,  the 
small  area  of  England,  and  until  the  last  century 
its  small  population,  it  may  be  said  that  our  cathedrals 

iS 


INTRODUCTORY  SKETCH 

are  proportionately  nobler  and  more  numerous  than 
those  of  any  single  nation  in  the  world.  And  a 
cathedral  is  a  great  historical  mom  ment  of  the  piety, 
and  the  liberality,  and  the  civilisation,  and  the  art 
skill  of  a  nation. 

Our  cathedrals  may  not  have  all  the  grandeur  of 
size,  height,  and  length,  or  that  unity  of  style  which 
belongs  to  Amiens  and  Chartres,  to  Rheims  and  to 
Bourges ;  but  the  chaste  richness  of  their  detail,  the 
picturesque  grouping  of  their  several  parts,  their 
miscellaneous  assemblages  of  architectural  styles, 
from  the  introduction  of  the  pointed  arch  under  the 
Plantagenets,  to  its  decline  under  the  Tudors,  invest 
them  with  an  individuality  that  somehow  is  lacking 
in  their  more  grandiose  Continental  sisters. 

For  as  far  as  I  can  read  English  art,  I  find  it  every- 
where distinguished  by  love  of,  and  carefulness  of 
detail ;  secondly,  by  general  reserve  and  sobriety  of 
spirit ;  thirdly  by  a  tendency  to  perceptible  harmony 
of  parts.  Let  us  for  a  moment  contrast  English  and 
French  work.  Contrast  is  an  easy  way  of  realising 
character.  English  art  ever  excels  in  detail ;  but 
French  art,  while  it  excels  in  noble  massing  and  com- 
plex outline,  exhibits  a  certain  poverty  and  meanness 
of  detail,  beyond  a  given  point  of  excellence.  To 
take  one  great  factor  of  design,  mouldings;  the 
Frenchman's  mouldings  never  can  satisfy  the  English- 
man who  has  drunk  deep  from  the  waters  of  his  native 
land.  To  one  who  knows  the  Yorkshire  abbeys,  Tin- 
tern,  Winchester,  Gloucester,  Malvern,  Norfolk,  and 
Suffolk,  and  that  queen  of  English  counties,  Somerset, 
with  its  vast  wealth  of  stately  fifteenth-century 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCH1TECTURB 

churches,  the  Frenchman's  mouldings  seem  either 
underdone  or  overdone  in  thought.  His  strong 
mouldings  seem  coarse  and  cumbrous;  his  graceful 
mouldings  attenuated  and  over-refined;  his  playful 
mouldings  tricky  and  fantastic.  English  mouldings 
are  just  as  eloquent  of  national  character,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  exaggerate  the  importance  given  to  this 
province  of  design  in  all  English  art. 

English  love  of  detail,  and  English  love  of  harmony, 
and  English  sobriety,  come  out  clearly  in  our  mould- 
ings. We  see  that  the  soul  of  the  workman  is  in  his 
sectional  lines,  which  are  trenchant,  sprightly,  or 
grave,  according  to  the  temper  of  the  man.  A  bit  of 
good  Early  English,  Decorated,  or  Perpendicular 
moulding  will  please  the  eye  and  gratify  the  mind. 
And  while  we  revel  in  the  fine  curvature,  we  may 
read  through  the  steadfast  lines  the  mental  travail 
which  produced  them  ;  and  whether  the  qualities  of 
the  work  tell  of  grace,  or  force,  or  ingenuity,  we  are 
somehow  made  to  feel  that,  behind  and  beyond  all 
that  is  expressed,  there  remains  the  weight  of  a  noble 
character  which  has  a  large  capital  of  solid  thought 
and  being  still  in  reserve. 

But  if  the  English  excel  in  detail  they  are  not 
daring,  aspiring  builders  like  the  French.  They  set 
gravely  to  work  and  finish  all  that  the}-  begin,  because 
they  have  measured  aims  and  a  natural  compass,  and 
they  do  not  attempt  the  unattainable.  So  it  conies  to 
pass  that  we  have  no  unfinished  buildings  as  the 
French  and  Italians  have,  and  so  it  is  that  all  our 
buildings — whether  cathedrals,  or  parish  churches, 
or  houses — are  of  homely  compass,  and  their  effects 

20 


INTRODUCTORY  SKETCH 

calm,  and  in  no  wise  strained.  In  our  richest  late 
work,  where  there  is  much  sculpture,  great  com- 
plexity of  surface  enrichment,  and  a  multitude  of 
ascending  lines,  there  is  still  a  perceptible  air  of 
control.  However  much  the  architect  may  try  to 
dominate  our  spirit  by  the  range  of  his  lines,  we  feel 
that  it  is  by  a  strong  volume  of  harmony  and  a  clear 
accentuation  of  parts,  that  he  fascinates  and  holds  us. 
All  his  aims  are  set  in  the  direction  of  harmony  rather 
than  of  contrast — at  the  harmony  of  associated  lines 
and  associated  parts,  rather  than  at  the  capricious 
self-assertiveness  and  struggle  for  predominance  of 
each  several  part. 

To  some,  the  architecture  of  a  country,  a  province, 
or  even  a  single  town,  tells  a  story  of  religious  and 
political  history,  of  alien  invasion,  of  foreign 
influence,  of  the  character  of  the  builders.  To 
others  it  is  a  mere  record  of  technicalities,  the 
text  for  a  cold  dissertation  on  relative  values  and  pro- 
portions;  they  find  lectures  in  stone  but  no  sermons, 
a  commentary  on  art,  not  on  human  endeavour  and 
aspiration.  The  cathedrals  and  churches  of  England 
are  wonderful  palimpsests  written  on,  not  twice,  but 
half  a  dozen  times ;  the  writing  beneath  is  sometimes 
half  obliterated,  sometimes  obscured,  but  more  often 
it  is  still  as  vivid  as  that  which  has  been  super- 
imposed. 

He  would  be  a  courageous  man  who  would  endeavour 
to  assess  their  respective  values.  Each  of  them 
includes  features  which  are  unmatched.  Although 
one  of  them  (St  Paul's)  is  a  departure  from  what 
might  almost  be  called  the  natural  style  of  an  English 

21 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

cathedral,  it  is  better  as  it  is  than  if  it  had  been  a 
seventeenth-century  improvement  on  its  predecessor. 

It  must  have  been  the  English  mediaeval  cathedrals 
and  not  those  of  any  other  country  Cardinal  Newman 
had  in  his  mind  when  he  said  : — "  For  myself,  cer- 
tainly I  think  that  that  which,  whatever  be  its  origin, 
is  called  Gothic,  is  endowed  with  a  profound  and  a 
commanding  beauty  such  as  no  other  style  possesses 
with  which  we  are  acquainted,  and  which  probably 
the  Church  will  not  see  surpassed  till  it  attain  to  the 
Celestial  City."  These  words  were  written  by  a  man 
who,  at  the  time,  was  engaged  in  carrying  out  the 
behests  of  the  Pope,  and  who  felt  peculiar  affection 
for  Roman  buildings.  But  the  Renaissance,  although 
adopted  for  the  foremost  of  churches,  was  not  so 
satisfactory  to  the  old  logician  as  English  mediaeval 
work,  for,  as  he  said  :  "  No  other  architecture,  now 
used  for  sacred  purposes,  seems  to  be  the  growth  of 
an  idea,  whereas  the  Gothic  style  is  as  harmonious 
and  as  intellectual  as  it  is  graceful." 

It  is,  however,  unnecessary  to  have  recourse  to 
either  literary  or  artistic  authorities  concerning  the 
value  of  English  cathedrals.  They  are  their  own 
exponents,  and  their  power  has  been  exercised  not 
only  on  colonials,  but  on  foreigners. 

As  to  the  individuality  of  English  cathedrals  much 
might  be  said. 

One  might  be  forgiven  for  confusing  the  apse  of 
Mantes  with  that  of  St  Leu  d'Esserent;  the  choir  of 
Clermont  Ferrand  with  that  of  Limoges,  the  exterior 
of  Sens  with  that  of  Troves  or  Auxerre.  But  Ely 
with  its  octagon,  Peterborough's  west  front,  Exeter's 

22 


INTRODUCTORY  SKETCH 

transeptal  towers,  Salisbury's  central  spire,  Lich- 
fi  eld's  trinity  of  spires,  are  things  which  stamp 
themselves  on  the  memory  with  the  force  of  striking 
individuality. 

Another  point  to  be  remarked  upon  is  the  completed 
effect  of  English  cathedrals  and  churches  compared 
with  so  many  foreign  ones,  which  rarely  reach  the 
ambitious  climax  intended. 

After  a  chaos  and  disorder  of  a  thousand  years  in 
which  the  civilisation  of  the  old  world  had  been 
rent  and  shattered,  there  arose  the  new  system  of  a 
child  spirit — the  child  civilisation  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Between  1190  and  1250 — in  that  thirteenth  century 
which  two  historians  of  such  diverse  views  as 
Frederick  Harrison  and  Bishop  Creighton  unite  in 
proclaiming  the  greatest  century  the  world  has  ever 
seen — the  miracle  was  accomplished,  and  in  all 
Northern  Europe  these  solemn  and  splendid  Gothic 
buildings  were  reared,  "  frozen  dreams  "  of  men  who 
dreamt  nobly,  though  with  something  of  the  exuber- 
ance and  fantasy  of  the  dreams  of  childhood.  Which 
buildings  future  ages  have  been  able  to  deface,  but 
never  to  improve;  so  that  now  the  Abbey  Church  of 
Westminster — that  great  French  thought  expressed 
in  excellent  English,  or  Notre  Dame  on  the  island 
which  has  seen  so  many  miracles,  or  cathedrals 
embedded  like  those  of  Bristol  or  Rouen,  or  Cologne 
or  Magdeburg,  in  the  new  world  of  business  and 
manufacture,  still  silently  challenge  an  age  full  of 
complacency  and  discontent,  with  the  ideals  of  a 
vanished  past. 

23 


AN  HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  FABRIC  OF  THE  CHURCH 
AND  THE  FORM  THEREOF,  FROM  THE  EARLIEST 
AGES  TO  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  ELEVENTH  CENTURY 

IN  the  Old  Testament  there  is  no  record  of  any  temple 
dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  Almighty  before  the 
age  of  Solomon.  The  Jewish  branch  of  the  Semitic 
race  during  the  patriarchal  age  was  nomadic,  each 
tribe  being  really  one  large  family,  the  head  of  which 
offered  sacrifices  for  the  rest,  and  altars  were  erected 
wherever  in  the  course  of  their  wanderings  thev  found 
pasture  and  water  for  their  flocks  and  herds ;  and 
when  Israel  went  down  into  Egypt  and  sojourned  there, 
it  was  not  until  they  had  been  brought  out  into  the 
wilderness  that  the  tabernacle  and  its  services  were 
first  ordained,  according  to  the  pattern  shown  to  Moses 
upon  the  Mount,  and  so  it  remained  until  the  time 
of  David,  who,  as  he  sat  in  his  house  of  cedar,  first 
conceived  the  idea  of  building  that  temple  which 
Solomon,  his  son  (1015  B.C.)  afterwards  carried  out. 
In  the  sixth  chapter  of  the  second  book  of  Chronicles 
the  account  is  given  of  the  solemn  dedication  of  that 
temple,  and  in  that  magnificent  prayer  of  consecration 

24 


CATIIKDRAI.    OK    K  >R(I- I.I.O. 
(Italian   Romanf>quo  of  th<j  t)r>ginning  of  ilv-   \:.\>  \'»-nlh  Ci'ntury.l 


To  face  p.    24. 


THE  FABRIC  OF  THE  CHURCH 

there  recorded  do  we  find  shadowed  forth  the  use  of 
the  Church  when  the  old  law  was  to  be  replaced  by  the 
new,  how  deep  and  significant  is  the  meaning  we  now 
attach  to  his  words. 

Of  the  form  and  appearance  of  that  temple, 
although  its  dimensions  and  ornaments  are  so  minutely 
detailed,  nothing  is  known  of  a  certainty.  It  might 
have  borrowed  forms  from  Egypt — the  vast  propyles, 
the  outer  courts  and  chambers  surrounding  the  inner 
enclosure  and  cell,  point  rather  to  Thebes  or  Karnac; 
or  it  might  have  copied  Assyrian  or  Chaldean  forms, 
which  is  the  most  probable. 

So  utterly  had  it  been  given  over  to  destruction,  that 
at  the  commencement  of  our  era  nothing  remained. 
The  Temple  at  Jerusalem  in  which  our  Lord  taught 
daily  was  of  a  far  different  character.  Greatly 
enriched  and  beautified  with  superb  additions  by 
Herod,  it  was  but  the  shadow  of  what  it  once  was,  and 
sentence  had  even  gone  forth  against  that,  that  not 
one  stone  was  to  be  left  upon  another. 

Although  after  our  blessed  Lord's  Ascension  the 
holy  Apostles  were  still  to  be  found  proclaiming  the 
Gospel  among  its  colonnades  and  porticoes,  and 
although  they  still  frequented  and  expounded  the  law 
in  those  smaller  assemblies  known  to  this  day  by  the 
name  of  synagogues,  yet  it  was  on  that  '  upper 
chamber  '  at  Jerusalem  that  their  thoughts  were 
centred,  as  every  detail  of  that  memorable  Paschal 
Supper,  and  the  Divine  ordinance  which  followed  it, 
became  indelibly  fixed  in  their  hearts,  as  the  thought 
of  how  the  bread  was  broken,  and  the  cup  taken  and 
blessed,  and  those  mysterious  words  uttered,  so  soon 

25 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

to  become,  by  the  sacrifice  on  Calvary,  of  such  deep 
and  significant  meaning;  it  is  to  that  upper  chamber 
where  all  this  had  taken  place,  that  in  turn  our 
thoughts  should  be  directed  as  the  first  visible  Church 
of  the  New  Testament. 

Follow  the  history  of  that  infant  Church.  Again 
and  again  do  we  find  reference  to  an  upper  chamber. 
When  the  cloud  had  hidden  their  Lord  from  them 
on  the  top  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  it  was  to  the  upper 
chamber  they  first  directed  their  steps,  in  the  first 
chapter  of  the  Acts  (verse  13),  and  again  in  chapter  xx. 
7,  8.,  where  it  is  said  : — "  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
when  the  disciples  came  together  to  break  bread,"  it 
'  was  in  an  upper  chamber,  and  there  were  many 
lights."  Such  were  the  first  surroundings  and  the 
first  type  of  the  fabric  of  the  Church,  a  place  not  to 
meet  in  for  the  purpose  of  expounding  the  law,  or  of 
simply  hearing  the  word  preached  ;  it  was  a  place  where 
the  first  Eucharist  had  been  offered,  and  which  was  to 
be  continued  daily  by  those  who  followed  the  Apostolic 
doctrine. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  advert  to  the  form  or 
decoration  of  such  a  chamber ;  we  do  not  require 
antiquarian  knowledge  to  tell  us  that  it  was  the  ' '  guest- 
chamber,"  and  therefore  the  best.  Holy  Scripture 
tells  us  that.  And  this  type,  which  had  its  origin  in 
Jerusalem,  spread  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel 
throughout  Syria,  and  into  all  lands.  In  Rome  itself, 
where  the  Apostles  St  Peter  and  St  Paul  laboured,  we 
have  this  room  alluded  to  in  the  Epistles ;  it  is  there 
called  "  the  Church  which  is  in  the  house  of  Priscilla 
and  Aquilla."  Now  this  phrase,  the  "  Church  which 

26 


THE  FABRIC  OF  THE  CHURCH 

is  in  the  house  of  "  means  something  more  than  that 
body  of  Christians  meeting  under  the  roof  of  some 
wealthy  convert  to  Christianity ;  it  probably  means 
the  oratory  or  room  in  which  the  Divine  mysteries 
were  celebrated.  But  at  this  period  persecution  after 
persecution  sweeps  over  the  infant  Church,  and  these 
little  assemblies  of  the  faithful  are  dispersed.  So 
searching  and  rigorous  are  these  persecutions  that 
above  ground  it  is  no  longer  possible  to  meet  with 
safety ;  and  in  the  gloomy  and  tortuous  recesses  of  the 
Catacombs,  in  fear  and  trembling  are  gathered  the 
remnants  of  Christ's  flock,  ostensibly  to  pay  the  last 
duties  to  those  bodies  of  the  holy  saints  and  martyrs 
whose  life-blood  had  been  shed  to  grace  the  triumph 
of  an  imperial  master  and  to  gratify  that  craving  and 
that  lust  for  blood  without  which  the  sports  of  the 
arena  were  tame  and  spiritless  to  the  Roman  people. 
This  hiding-place  among  the  tombs  and  galleries  of 
the  Catacombs  becomes  the  second  type  assumed  by 
the  Christian  Church.  The  tomb  of  the  saint  becomes 
the  altar,  and  the  vision  of  St  John  the  Divine  is 
realised  on  earth.  "  I  saw  under  the  altar  the  souls 
of  them  that  were  slain  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for 
the  testimony  which  they  held  :  and  they  cried  with 
a  loud  voice,  saying,  How  long,  O  Lord,  holy  and 
true  "  (Rev.  vi.  9,  10). 

Of  this  danger  incurred  by  the  Christians  in  thus 
meeting  we  find  several  instances,  as  witness  that 
noble  reply  of  Justin  Martyr  to  the  Prefect  Rusticus, 
who  inquired  of  him,  "  Where  did  the  Christians 
assemble?  '  "  Where  they  wish  and  where  they 
can ;  do  you  think  we  always  assemble  at  the  same 

27" 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

place?  The  God  of  the  Christians  is  not  confined 
within  an  enclosure,  but  He  is  invisible,  and  fills 
heaven  and  earth."  We  find  these  underground 
sanctuaries  in  the  very  infancy  of  the  Christian 
Church  decorated  with  frescoes.  The  execution  may 
be  rough,  and  the  drawing  of  the  figure  imperfect, 
yet  there  they  are  unmistakably  Christian,  and  con- 
temporary with  others  in  the  same  Catacombs  of 
Pagan  origin. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  notwithstanding  the 
persecutions  which  had  compelled  the  congregation 
of  the  faithful  to  flee  to  these  dark  recesses,  the 
tradition  of  the  "  upper  chamber  "  was  still  preserved, 
and  they  tried,  as  far  as  their  scanty  means  would 
permit,  to  make  His  sanctuary  glorious. 

As  the  traditional  ornamentation  of  the  upper 
chamber  had  been  impressed  upon  those  used  by  the 
early  Christians  in  the  Catacombs,  so  in  time  did 
these  underground  vaults  exercise  an  influence  upon 
religious  architecture,  when  Christianity  was  able  to 
emerge  from  them  into  the  full  blaze  of  sunshine. 
Hence  the  origin  of  those  vaulted  crypts  so  often  to 
be  found  here  and  on  the  Continent.  In  Rome, 
churches  were  built  exactly  over  these  spots  which 
contained  the  tombs  of  the  Holy  Martyrs.  San 
Martino  arose  over  the  subterranean  chapel  where 
the  body  of  Pope  St  Sylvester  reposed.  Santa 
Prassede,  San  Lorenzo,  Santa  Croce,  San  Sebastiano, 
San  Paolo  fuori  le  mura,*  and  last,  but  not  least, 
the  huge  basilica  of  St  Peter's,  were  all  raised  over 

*  St  Paul's,  outside  the  walls. 
28 


THE  FABRIC  OF  THE  CHURCH 

the  tombs  of  the  several  saints  to  whom  thoj  are 
dedicated. 

In  these  first  centuries  of  the  Christian  era,  when 
the  blood  of  the  martyrs  became  the  seed  of  the 
Church,  there  were  intervals  of  repose,  but  the  last 
great  effort  of  Pagan  malice,  the  persecution  under 
Diocletian,  was  the  most  severe  and  extensive  of  all,  for 
it  even  reached  these  shores,  and  St  Alban,  Britain's 
protomartyr,  became  its  first-fruits.  During  these 
intervals  Christianity  was  reviled,  as  may  be  inferred 
from  the  writings  of  Juvenal,  Pliny,  Apuleius,  and 
Tacitus,  this  last  calling  it  a  detestable  superstition, 
but  the  underground  sanctuaries  had  been  exchanged 
for  more  commodious  buildings  above  ground,  prob- 
ably the  houses  of  the  most  wealthy,  such  as  the 
house  of  Clemens,  of  the  Gens  Flavii,  an  old  con- 
sular family,  known  now  as  St  Clement,  the  third 
successor  to  St  Peter  in  the  See  of  Rome,  on  the  site 
of  which  now  stands  the  very  ancient  church  of  San 
Clemente,  and  partly  under  which  have  been  dis- 
covered the  remains  of  a  still  earlier,  probably  the 
original. 

The  house  of  Pudens,  where  St  Paul  lodged  on  the 
two  occasions  he  was  in  Rome,  before  he  lived  in  his 
own  hired  house,  is  now  the  Church  of  Sta  Pudentiana, 
the  daughter  of  Pudens,  incorporated  in  the  present 
portions  of  the  original  house ;  therefore  that  Apostolic 
saying,  "  the  church  which  is  in  the  house  of,"  as 
before  alluded  to,  was  no  empty  phrase. 

It  is  not  likely,  or  probable,  that  any  building 
erected  by  the  Christians  for  the  purpose  of  specially 
celebrating  the  Divine  mysteries  would  have  survived 

29 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

the  persecution  under  Diocletian.  That  they  did 
possess  churches  we  know,  because  in  the  account 
given  of  the  martyrdom  of  St  Laurence,  reference  is 
made  to  the  prefect  visiting  the  church,  expecting 
to  see  there  the  vessels  of  gold  and  silver  in  which  he 
had  been  informed  they  offered  libations,  and  also  the 
golden  candlesticks  in  which  they  burnt  their  tapers ; 
and  when  Galerius  persuaded  Diocletian  to  issue  his 
infamous  mandate  at  Nicomedia,  the  very  first  thing 
done  by  the  praetorian  guards  was  to  pull  down  the 
church  erected  by  the  Christians,  and  to  destroy  every 
copy  of  the  Scriptures. 

Having  thus  arrived  at  a  turning-point  in  Rome, 
let  us  look  back  at  Jerusalem.  Prophecy  had  been 
fulfilled — not  one  stone  of  that  temple  had  been  left 
upon  another;  Vespasian  and  Titus,  the  instruments 
of  Divine  wrath,  had  utterly  destroyed  it ;  and  those 
few  of  the  inhabitants  who  had  escaped  from  the 
general  massacre  had  been  dispersed  into  all  lands. 
The  account  given  by  Josephus  of  those  last  days  of 
Jerusalem  is  a  very  fearful  one.  Eusebius  tells  us 
that  the  Christians  in  Jerusalem  had  received  a  Divine 
intimation  to  leave  the  city  and  retire  to  Pella,  a  small 
town  on  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan. 

But  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor  and  Greece,  Antioch, 
Laodicea,  Athens,  Corinth,  Ephesus,  and  others,  all 
possessed  Christian  churches,  although  nothing  before 
the  commencement  of  the  fourth  century  can  now  be 
actually  identified.  It  was  the  accession  of  Con- 
stantine  to  the  imperial  throne  which  changed  the 
face,  as  it  were,  of  the  world,  and  is  the  turning- 
point  in  its  history,  to  whose  reign  we  must  look 

30 


THE  FABRIC  OF  THE  CHURCH 

for  those  first  manifestations  of  Christian 
architecture. 

Marvellous  as  were  the  productions  of  ancient  times 
in  this  art,  as  exemplified  in  their  temples,  yet 
Christianity  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  them ;  and 
even  when  Christianity  became  universal,  the  temples 
of  the  heathen  were  not  used  for  their  worship.  St 
Paul  had  stood  and  preached  in  the  Areopagus  ;  he  had 
seen  the  most  beautiful  temple  of  the  old  world,  the 
outcome  of  the  refined  intellectuality  of  the  Greeks, 
the  Parthenon  or  Temple  of  Pallas  Athene,  in  all  its 
pride  of  position  and  magic  sculpture  of  Pentelic 
marble ;  he  had  wandered  through  the  sacred  groves  of 
Athens,  the  violet-crowned,  wholly  given  to  idolatry, 
and  had  preached  from  that  text  inscribed  on  one  of 
the  numerous  altars,  "  To  The  Unknown  God." 

At  Ephesus  for  the  space  of  three  months  he  must 
have  passed  daily  the  porticoes  of  the  Temple  of 
Artemis,  with  its  sumptuous  sculptured  columns, 
Diana  of  the  Ephesians,  the  great  Temple  of  Aphro- 
dite at  Corinth ;  and  finally  he  had  seen  Rome  in  her 
magnificence,  the  baths  and  temples  and  triumphal 
arches,  amphitheatres,  and  the  Golden  House  of  Nero, 
which  even  now,  in  their  ruined  grandeur,  strike  us 
with  awe  and  admiration.  The  holy  Apostles  and  their 
successors  had  seen  all  these  glories  of  the  old  world, 
and  had  turned  from  them  as  things  offered  to  idols, 
and  would  have  none  of  them.  It  has  been  reserved 
for  us  and  for  our  times  to  revive  in  a  Christian  church 
the  portico  of  a  Temple  of  Bacchus,  to  add  to  its  sides 
the  caryatides  of  a  Temple  to  Erectheus,  and  to  crown 
it  with  the  Temple  of  the  Winds  or  Wingless  Victory, 

3* 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

and  to  decorate  the  exteriors  of  others  with  the  skulls 
of  oxen.* 

Constantine  removed  the  seat  of  Government  from 
Rome,  as  if  that  city  was  too  deeply  stained  with 
heathenism  and  its  hideous  memories,  and  founded 
at  Byzantium  a  new  Rome  known  as  Constantinople  : 
and  it  is  there  and  to  Asia  Minor  that  we  must  look 
for  those  buildings  that  are  purely  indigenous  to 
Christianity,  than  to  Rome,  where  buildings  would 
be  necessarily  adapted  rather  than  originated. 

We  are  now,  then,  brought  face  to  face  with  these 
two  types  of  architecture,  at  their  first  point  of 
divergence  as  distinct  as  are  the  two  great  branches 
of  the  Church  Catholic,  the  East  and  the  West,  who 
adopted  and  developed  these  types ;  and  it  is  to  the 
latter  we  must  look  for  the  types  adopted  for  our 
architecture  in  England,  although  the  East  exerted 
no  small  influence  on  our  Liturgy,  and  can  be  traced 
even  in  our  architecture. 

As  they  were  contemporary,  it  matters  little  which 
we  first  consider ;  but  as,  perhaps,  the  Western 
exercised  the  most  influence,  we  will  take  that 
first. 

Now,  among  the  many  sumptuous  buildings  of 
ancient  Rome,  there  is  one  particular  class  which 
offered  to  the  early  Christian  Church  certain  advan- 
tages of  plan  and  arrangement  suitable  to  its  wants, 
and  which  was  also  free  from  the  pollution  of  heathen 
rites.  This  class  of  building  was  called  a  basilica; 
the  origin  of  the  word  was  Greek,  but  why  it  was 
applied  to  these  buildings  no  satisfactory  reason  can 

*  St  Pancras',  Huston  Road,  London. 
32 


THE  FABRIC  OF  THE  CHURCH 

be  found.  It  was  generally  used  in  connection  with 
another  Greek  word  Stoa.  There  were  several  of 
these  in  Rome  (two  in  the  Forum)  and  were  used  as 
law-courts  and  places  for  transacting  general  business ; 
the  most  simple  form  was  that  of  a  long  parallelogram , 
with  one  or  two  rows  of 'columns  on  either  side,  and 
a  semicircular  recess,  sometimes  only  at  one  end, 
sometimes  at  both.  This  was  the  form  adopted  by 
the  Western  Church  in  preference  to  any  other,  as  it 
lent  itself  more  easily  to  its  requirements. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  name  "  basilica  '  was 
adopted  from  the  Greeks  at  Athens,  whose  second 
archon  was  styled  apxw  8a<rt\€u$,  and  the  tribunal 
where  he  adjudicated  a-rou  (3aa-i\etos,  situate  in  the 
Athenian  Ceramicus,  immediately  beneath  the  Pnyx. 
According  to  Livy,  it  was  not  introduced  into  Rome 
until  182  B.C.  In  the  centre  of  the  semicircular 
recess,  or  apsis,  was  seated  the  quaestor,  or  praetor  in 
a  curule  chair,  with  seats  each  side  for  the  assessors 
or  judices,  and  in  advance  was  the  altar  for  libations. 
St  John  in  his  Gospel  (xix.  13),  alludes  to  this  as 
Gabbatha,  or  Lithostroton,  the  "  pavement."  The 
ranges  of  columns  extending  down  each  side  of  this 
hall  were  not  always  closed  in  by  walls,  nor  was  it 
universally  roofed.  No  secular  basilica  remains  now 
perfect,  with  the  exception  of  the  one  at  Treves,  in 
use  as  a  church  for  the  Protestant  military.  The 
early  Christians  adopted  this  form,  but  not  the  actual 
building,  although  the  same  conscientious  reasons 
which  deterred  them  from  adopting  the  temples  could 
not  apply. 

The  Pantheon  at  Rome  is  an  exception  to  this  rule 

33  c 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

as  to  heathen  temples.  It  is  a  very  remarkable  build- 
ing. It  is  in  span,  I  believe,  the  largest  dome  that 
exists.  It  is  certainly  wider  across,  although  not  so 
high  as  St  Peter's ;  it  is  larger  than  Brunelleschi's 
dome  at  Florence,  or  than  that  over  the  reading-room 
of  our  British  Museum ;  and  it  is  very  peculiar  in  its 
superstructure.  There  are  no  windows  in  either 
walls  or  vaults ;  the  only  light  is  admitted  by  a  cir- 
cular aperture  in  the  centre  of  the  roof,  which  can  be 
closed  at  will  by  a  shutter  or  veil ;  and  all  round  the 
interior  is  a  series  of  little  niches  in  the  walls.  This 
dome-shaped  building  was  originally  the  "  Cali- 
darium , "  or  hot-air  chamber  of  a  grand  group  of  baths, 
analagous  to  the  Turkish  bath  of  our  own  day,  which 
we  derive  from  Rome  by  way  of  Byzantium,  now 
Constantinople.  Very  shortly  after  its  erection, 
however,  it  seems  to  have  struck  the  mind  of  someone 
—whether  it  was  or  was  not  the  Consul  Agrippa, 
whose  name  appears  on  the  front  of  the  building,  we 
cannot  tell — that  these  niches  rendered  the  building 
very  appropriate  for  dedication  as  a  temple  of  honour 
to  all  the  gods  that  were  then  recognised  in  Roman 
mythology ;  and  accordingly  it  was  dedicated  as 
a  temple  to  the  service  of  all  the  gods,  and  from  this 
circumstance  derived  its  name  of  the  Pantheon.  In 
after  years,  when  Rome  became  a  Christian  city,  this 
building  was  given  up  by  the  Emperor  of  the  day  to 
Pope  Boniface  IV.,  and  he,  in  the  year  610,  having 
purged  it  from  all  heathen  associations,  and  having 
rendered  it  fit  for  the  purposes  of  Christian  worship, 
rcdedicated  it  to  "  St  Mary  and  All  Martyrs," 
intending  "  martyrs  "  to  include  all  saints,  as  the 

34 


THE  FABRIC  OF  THE  CHURCH 

previous  dedication  had  comprised  all  deities.  How- 
ever, it  was  afterwards  felt  that  all  the  saints  were 
not  included  in  such  a  dedication,  and  the  gap  was 
filled  up  about  a  century  afterwards  by  Pope  Gregory 
III.,  who  in  731,  while  he  was  engaged  in  making 
additions  to  the  old  basilica  of  St  Peter's,  added  a 
chapel  which  he  dedicated  to  All  the  Saints.  This 
chapel  was  dedicated  on  the  ist  of  November,  and 
consequently  that  day  has  ever  since  been  set  apart 
as  the  festival  of  All  Saints. 

To  assimilate  the  basilican  plan  for  Christian 
requirements,  certain  modifications  had  to  be  made 
to  meet  them,  and  they  were  carried  out  in  the 
following  manner.  First,  the  three  orders  of  the 
clergy  had  to  be  provided  for — bishops,  priests,  and 
deacons;  next,  the  general  body  of  the  faithful,  men 
and  women ;  and  lastly,  the  catechumens,  or  those 
who  had  not  been  received  into  the  full  fellowship 
of  the  Church. 

In  the  apse,  usually  the  western  one,  was  seated  the 
bishop,  and  on  each  side  of  him  the  presbyters  or 
priests ;  facing  east  in  front  of  them,  a  little  in  advance 
of  the  chord  of  the  apse,  was  the  altar ;  between  the 
altar  and  the  body  of  the  church  was  the  place  for 
the  inferior  clergy  or  deacons,  where  the  ordinary 
services,  other  than  that  of  the  Eucharist,  were  con- 
ducted; then  came  the  congregation,  the  men  on  the 
south  side,  the  women  on  the  north.  If  the  church 
possessed  narthex  or  pronaos,  the  catechumens  and 
penitents  were  located  there.  This  narthex  was  an 
outer  court,  or  portico,  with  three  doors  of  entrance 
into  the  church.  If  this  architectural  arrangement 

35 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

did  not  exist,  a  curtain  or  veil  separated  the 
catechumens  from  the  general  body. 

In  celebrating  the  Eucharist,  the  bishop  or  priest 
stood  on  that  side  of  the  altar  with  his  face  towards 
the  congregation,  and  looking  east,  a  position  which, 
for  eighteen  centuries,  has  never  varied,  while  the 
position  of  the  congregation  has  been  exactly  reversed. 
At  St  Peter's,  the  Pope,  when  he  celebrates  at  the 
high  altar  under  the  dome,  does  precisely  as  his 
predecessors  fifteen  centuries  ago. 

In  the  East  the  basilican  plan,  although  used, 
was  not,  from  various  causes,  universally  adopted, 
perhaps  from  liturgical  reasons,  but  most  probably 
from  that  freedom  which  the  great  metropolis  of  the 
Christian  world,  Constantinople,  wished  to  assume  in 
the  matter  of  architecture,  desiring  rather  to  found  a 
style  entirely  free  from  the  taint  of  Paganism  than 
adopt  one  associated  with  it,  however  remotely ; 
but  Constantine  did  not  entirely  dispense  with  the 
basilican  arrangement. 

The  main  feature  of  this  style  introduced  by  Con- 
stantine was  covering  vast  spaces  by  one  huge  vault 
or  dome,  out  of  which  opened  lesser  half -domes ;  and 
in  the  Church  of  St  Sergius  at  Constantinople,  and 
again  in  that  ancient  cathedral  of  the  Christian  world, 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Wisdom  or  Santa  Sophia, 
this  feature  of  vaulting  is  carried  out  almost  to  an 
excess.  At  Ravenna,  in  the  Church  of  San  Vitale,  we 
find  a  similar  complex  arrangement  of  vaults,  but 
the  most  usual  and  most  simple  plan  adopted  by  the 
Eastern  Church  was  that  of  a  Greek  cross  of  four 
equal  arms,  with  a  dome  at  the  intersection  often 

36 


NAYK   OF    SANT   APOI.I.INARF    NTOVO.    RAVENNA. 

(Sixth    Onturv.) 


To  face  p.   ~]ti. 


square-ended,  and  sometimes  triapsidal,  that  is, 
having  three  apses  or  semicircular  recesses  at  the 
east  end.  Unlike  the  Western  in  this  particular,  the 
Divine  mysteries  were  celebrated  behind  a  solid  stone 
screen  pierced  with  three  doors,  the  centre  being  the 
largest  and  widest  and  provided  with  curtains.  The 
altar,  or,  as  the  Greeks  call  it,  the  throne,  stands  in 
advance  of  the  apse,  but  during  the  prayer  of  conse- 
cration the  doors  of  the  screen,  or  "  iconostasis,"  are 
closed,  and  the  veil  drawn.  The  space  behind  the 
screen  is  called  the  ayiov  /3^/xa  and  the  term  altar  is 
not  applied  to  the  actual  altar,  but  to  the  whole  of 
the  space  behind  the  screen.  The  arrangement  of 
the  seats  for  the  bishop  or  patriarch,  and  priests  or 
elders,  was  the  same  as  in  the  West ;  on  the  left  of 
the  central  apse  was  a  smaller  one  containing  the  Table 
of  the  Prothesis,  answering  to  our  credence.  On  the 
right  hand,  a  similar  apse  was  styled  the  diaconicum, 
and  corresponded  to  a  vestry  or  sacristy.  In 
front  of  the  iconostasis  was  a  space  railed  off  for  the 
singers  and  lesser  clergy ;  beyond  were  the  congrega- 
tion, and  like  the  Western  Church,  provision  was 
always  made  for  the  catechumens  by  a  narthex  or 
pronaos. 

In  these  two  leading  types,  both  of  which  have 
survived  to  this  day,  and  are  in  common  use,  one  can 
trace  the  influence  exercised  by  the  ancient  liturgies, 
and  it  is  natural  that  in  the  East,  where  necessarily 
the  use  of  the  liturgy  of  St  Mark,  or  St  James,  the 
first  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  and  other  ancient  liturgies, 
such  as  those  of  St  Basil  and  St  Chrysostom,  would 
be  general,  certain  traditions  of  the  Temple  at 

37 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Jerusalem,  with  its  veil  and  Holy  of  holies,  would 
slightly  influence  the  ritual  arrangements. 

In  the  foregoing  remarks  it  has  only  been  possible 
to  summarise,  as  it  were,  the  two  leading  types  of 
church  architecture;  much  has  been  necessarily 
omitted,  especially  the  descriptions  of  ancient  churches 
and  their  contents,  as  described  by  Eusebius  and 
others ;  but  those  who  are  curious  on  this  point  cannot 
do  better  than  consult  that  before-mentioned  great 
father  of  ecclesiastical  history. 

The  second  head  or  division  to  be  dwelt  upon  is, 
'  How  far,  and  to  what  extent  these  types  of  the 
visible  Christian  Church  as  a  fabric,  existed  in  Great 
Britain?  " 

The  old  tradition  that  Christianity  was  first  brought 
here  by  St  Paul  and  St  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  is  one 
which,  however  one  would  like  to  believe  it,  requires 
a  little  more  evidence  before  it  can  be  taken  implicitly. 

That  Christianity  was  preached  here  at  a  very  early 
period  there  can  be  no  doubt,  but  whether  its  intro- 
duction was  due  to  Apostolic  labours,  or  whether  it 
was  introduced  by  missionaries  from  Gaul  subse- 
quently to  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  the  most  probable 
conclusion,  cannot  be  discussed  here  now. 

That  London  was,  even  in  those  days,  no  mean  or 
contemptible  city,  we  have  the  authority  of  Tacitus 
— "  Londinium  copia  negotiatorum  et  commeatuum 
maxime  celebre  "  (London,  famous  for  its  many  mer- 
chants, and  the  abundance  of  its  provisions).  But 
Eusebius  states  that  at  the  council  held  at  Aries, 
A.D.  314  (Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  x.  cap.  v.)  Eborius,  Bishop 
of  York,  which,  with  all  d,ue  deference  to  Eusebius, 

33 


THE  FABRIC  OF  THE  CHURCH 

must  mean,  not  the  name  of  the  man,  but  that  of  his 
See,  "  Ebor  "  or  Eboracensis;  Restitutus,  Bishop  of 
London,  and  Adelphius,  Bishop  of  Caerleon,  were  all 
present;  that  fact  alone  showing  that  Christianity 
was  so  far  universal  that  even  in  those  early  times 
London  was  possessed  of  a  cathedral,  and  that  the 
whole  country  was  mapped  out  for  ecclesiastical  pur- 
poses ;  and  they  were  also  summoned  to  attend  at  Nice 
in  325;  Sardis  in  347;  and  Arminium  in  359. 

There  is  something  glorious  in  the  idea  that  a 
Bishop  of  London  was  one  of  those  who  drew  up  that 
mighty  confession  of  faith,  the  Nicene  Creed. 

St  Helena,  the  Empress-mother  of  Constantine, 
generally  supposed  to  have  been  a  British  princess, 
doubtless  favoured  the  land  of  her  birth,  and  the 
Roman  city  of  London  probably  possessed  several 
churches  other  than  the  cathedral,  but  the  utter  ruin 
which  fell  upon  London  after  the  withdrawal  of  the 
Romans,  and  the  long  struggles  with  the  Picts  and 
Scots,  and  afterwards  with  the  Saxon  hordes,  ended 
in  the  total  expulsion  of  its  Christian  inhabitants. 
Thaeonus,  Archbishop  of  London,  and  Theodicus, 
Archbishop  of  York,  fled  with  their  clergy  and  people 
into  the  wilds  of  Wales  and  Cornwall,  to  the  shores 
and  rocky  coasts  of  Brittany,  and  to  Ireland. 

But  there  are  some  traditions  in  London  not  to  be 
utterly  ignored.  St  Peter's  upon  Cornhill  sets  up  a 
claim  for  remote  antiquity,  boasting  as  its  founder, 
Lucius,  King  of  the  Britons,  a  personage  whom  some 
consider  purely  mythical,  although  constant  reference 
is  made  to  him  in  very  ancient  records;  and  again, 
with  regard  to  St  Helen's,  Bishopsgate,  what  could 

39 


have  been  more  natural  but  that  the  early  Christians 
of  this  city  should  have  dedicated  a  church  to  her  to 
whom  they  owed  so  much  ?  That  portion  of  London 
then  outside  the  limits  of  the  Roman  city  was  a 
very  wealthy  quarter,  as  the  numerous  remains  of 
tesselated  pavements  of  villa  residences  show.  And 
why,  lastly,  was  the  cathedral  church  of  London 
dedicated  to  St  Paul  ?  a  very  rare  dedication  in  early 
times.  These  questions  are  very  suggestive,  and 
they  all  point  to  a  very  remote  and  early  period  of 
Christianity,  some  centuries  before  St  Augustine  and 
his  monks  ever  reached  these  shores.  But  whatever 
this  primitive  type  of  church  architecture  was,  the 
succeeding  two  centuries  of  Paganism,  when  the 
worship  of  Wodin,  Thor,  and  Friga,  replaced 
Christianity  for  a  time,  had  so  utterly  obliterated  it 
that  at  the  advent  of  St  Augustine  it  existed  almost 
in  tradition  only. 

Ireland,  whither  St  Patrick  had  fled — for  the  patron 
saint  of  the  Emerald  Isle  was  himself  a  Briton — has 
preserved  some  very  ancient  stone  structures  dating 
from  these  times.  The  plan  of  these  is  generally  a 
parallelogram,  divided  into  two  portions  by  an  arch; 
but  the  workmanship  is  so  rude  that  it  is  probably 
the  reason  why  so  simple  a  plan  was  adopted,  and 
one  which  could  easily  be  built  by  rude  and  inex- 
perienced workmen. 

Wales  possesses  a  great  number  of  very  small 
churches,  consisting  of  only  nave  and  chancel,  almost 
invariably  square-ended.  In  Cornwall,  although 
showing  traces  of  the  early  Church,  especially  in  the 
curious  dedications  to  saints  of  essentially  British 

40 


THE  FABRIC  OF  THE  CHURCH 

origin,  the  churches  have  nearly  all  been  rebuilt  in 
later  times. 

Brittany  again,  another  place  of  refuge  for  the 
early  Christians,  although  full  of  monuments  of  an 
age  still  more  remote — the  megalithic — has  nothing 
that  can  positively  be  identified.  Perhaps  Lanleff 
may  be;  if  so,  it  is  an  exception  to  the  rule,  being 
circular. 

Some  excavations  at  Reculver  *  (the  ancient  Regul- 
bium)  on  the  north  coast  of  Kent,  between  Herne 
Bay  and  Birchington,  brought  to  light  the  plan  of 
an  exceedingly  early  church ;  but  this,  from  its 
position  in  the  midst  of  a  camp,  would  probably  be 
Roman,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  Church  of 
St  Mary  in  Dover  Castle,  and  of  another  ancient 
church  at  South  Elmham,  near  Bungay,  and  again 
another  at  Castle  Rising — all  these  are  within  the 
precincts  of  Roman  praetorian  camps. 

Reculver  had  been  considerably  altered  before  it 
was  purposely  ruined  early  in  the  last  century,  but 
there  is  sufficient  left  to  show  what  the  original  plan 
was  before  the  additions  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries. 

The  basilican  type  is  so  apparent  in  this  church  at 
Reculver  that  some  antiquaries  would  have  us  believe 
that  it  was  a  basilica  and  not  a  Christian  church. 

It  has  a  nave  divided  from  north  and  south  aisles, 
not  by  columns,  but  by  piers  or  portions  of  wall ; 

*  The  work  of  demolition  began  in  September  1809. 

In  the  second  of  a  series  of  articles  contributed  to  the  Gentle- 
man's Magazine  of  1856-7  entitled  "  Rambles  on  the  Kentish 
Coast  "  is  an  admirable  description  of  Reculver  and  its  neighbour- 
hood. 

41 


dividing  the  nave  from  the  chancel  were  three  lofty 
arches,  the  centre  being  the  highest,  carried  on  two 
cylindrical  columns.*  The  chancel  was  apsidal,  with 
two  small  openings  or  doors  communicating  with 
chambers  at  the  eastern  end  of  each  aisle,  corres- 
ponding to  the  prothesis  and  diaconicum  of  a  Greek 
church,  and  the  whole  floor  was  laid  with  a  bed  of 
solid  concrete. 

At  South  Elmham  there  are  no  aisles,  but  the  nave 
was  crossed  at  the  distance  of  twenty-seven  feet  from 
the  west  by  a  solid  partition,  pierced  by  two  narrow 
lofty  arches  and  a  central  pier,  the  pronaos  or  narthex 
of  the  Greek  church. 

At  Castle  Rising  the  plan  consists  of  a  nave,  forty- 
one  feet  by  nineteen  feet  wide;  then  a  narrow  arch, 
only  nine  feet  wide,  leading  into  a  chancel  thirteen 
feet  square  ;  then  another  arch,  nine  feet  wide,  opening 
into  an  apsidal  recess,  fifteen  feet  by  thirty-two  feet 
nine  inches. 

On  the  authority  of  the  Venerable  Bede,  St 
Augustine  was  invited  by  Pope  Gregory  not  to  destroy 
the  heathen  temples  of  the  English,  but  only  to  remove 
the  images  of  their  gods,  to  wash  the  walls  with  holy 
water,  to  erect  altars  and  deposit  relics  in  them,  and 
convert  them  into  Christian  churches,  not  only  to 
save  the  expense  of  building  new  ones,  but  also  that 
the  people  might  be  more  easily  prevailed  on  to 
frequent  those  places  of  worship  to  which  they  had 
been  accustomed. 

With  the  opening  of  the  seventh  century  we  arrive 

*  These  columns   were   taken   to   Canterbury  and   set   up   in   the 
cathedral  precincts. 

42 


To  /ace  p.  42. 


THE  FABRIC  OF  THE  CHURCH 

on  surer  ground,  as  from  this  period  we  possess 
authentic  records  of  ecclesiastical  architecture. 

St  Augustine,  on  his  arrival  at  Canterbury  in  597  * 
found  one  ancient  church  in  use — that  of  St  Martin, 
for  Bertha,  the  Queen  of  Ethelbert,  was  a  Christian, 
and  another  one  in  ruins,  destined  to  become  the  vener- 
able mother  church  of  even-one  in  England,  and  the 
seat  of  the  metropolitical  archbishops  of  Canterbury. 

This  church,  as  rebuilt  by  Augustine,  who  was  so 
conversant  with  the  basilica  of  St  Peter's  at  Rome, 
would  naturally  present  similar  features,  and  accord- 
ingly we  find  from  the  account  given  of  it  by  Eadmer, 
that  it  was  a  basilica,  but  with  some  unusual  features. 
It  possessed  both  an  eastern  and  a  western  apse ;  the 
western  one  contained  the  high  altar,  and  the  eastern, 
the  altar  of  St  Mary.  It  further  possessed  two  towers 
— one  dedicated  to  St  Gregory  on  the  south  side, 
through  which  was  an  entrance  into  the  church,  and 
another  on  the  north  dedicated  to  St  Martin ;  these 
towers  were  about  in  the  centre  of  each  side. 

It  still  further  carried  out  the  basilican  tradition  in 
possessing  a  crypt;  and  the  bodies  of  SS.  Wilfrid  of 
York,  and  S within  of  Winchester,  were  placed  under 
the  altars ;  and  the  patriarchal  chair  in  the  western 
apse  behind  the  altar,  so  that  the  priest  celebrating 
Mass  at  the  Altar  of  St  Man*,  had  his  face  to  the 
congregation.  Of  course,  when  the  celebration  took 
place  at  the  altar  in  the  eastern  apse,  the  positions 
were  reversed — a  change  which  has  since  become 

*  He  landed  at  Ebbe's  Fleet  (Pegwell  Bay)  between  Ramsgate 
and  Sandwich,  26th  May,  his  anniversary  in  our  ecclesiastical 
calendar. 

43 


universal,  and  which  very  probably  dates  from  this 
proto-cathedral. 

Such  was  the  first  cathedral  of  Canterbury,  a  build- 
ing likely  to  exert  an  immense  influence  on  all  other 
churches  of  the  converted  Saxons  throughout  Hug- 
land,  and  to  be  adopted  as  a  type;  and  in  such  a 
manner  did  it  exist  until  1087,  when  it  was  totally 
destroyed  by  fire. 

The  cathedral  church  of  St  Peter  at  Winchester 
dates  from  a  period  even  more  remote  than  that  of 
Canterbury.  Lucius,  King  of  the  Britons,  a  person- 
age whom  some  consider  purely  mythical,  although 
constant  reference  is  made  to  him  in  very  ancient 
records,  founded  it  in  164,  and  dedicated  it  to  our 
Saviour  in  169. 

From  the  authority  of  Moracius,  an  historian  whose 
works  are  now  lost,  we  have  a  circumstantial  account 
of  its  size,  two  Pagan  temples  being  spoken  of  as 
existing  in  close  proximity — those  of  Concord  and 
Apollo.  The  city  was  then  called  Kaergwenl, 
afterwards  Winton,  or  Winchester.  This  church  was 
totally  destroyed  during  the  persecution  under 
Diocletian,  but  was  rebuilt  in  293  and  rededicated  to 
St  Amphibalus,  but  on  a  smaller  scale.  It  fell  under 
the  power  of  the  Saxons,  and  for  the  period  of  one 
hundred  and  forty-two  years,  was  a  heathen  temple. 
St  Birinus,  who  converted  this  part  of  England,  forty- 
one  years  after  St  Augustine,  was  instrumental  in 
getting  it  rebuilt,  and  rededicated  (for  the  third  time) 
in  honour  of  the  Holy  Trinity. 

St  Swithin,  who  died  in  863^  was  interred,  according 
to  his  own  injunctions,  outside  this  church,  and 

44 


THE  FABRIC  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Wolstan  in  his  life  of  him,  says  that  a  tower,  capped 
with  a  roof,  and  of  the  greatest  magnitude  stood 
before  the  lovely  entrance  of  this  holy  temple. 
Between  this  and  the  sacred  nave,  the  body  of  the 
saint  was  interred,  for  he  thought  himself  unworthy 
of  being  buried  within  the  church. 

But  it  was  again  rebuilt  and  rededicated  to  the  holy 
Apostles  St  Peter  and  St  Paul,  by  Athelwold,  conse- 
crated bishop  in  963.  This  bishop  was  a  great 
builder  of  churches.  Ely  and  Medeshamstede,  after- 
wards called  Peterborough,  and  Thorney,  all  experi- 
enced his  benefaction. 

Wolstan  gives  a  poetical  description  of  this  church, 
and  of  its  dedication  in  980,  which  will  give  a  fair  idea 
of  its  magnificence ;  and  yet  scarcely  a  century  had 
passed  when  it  was  once  more  destroyed,  and  the 
present  one  erected  by  the  side  of  it,  by  Bishop 
Walkelin. 

York,  Worcester,  and  St  Paul's  have  similar 
histories  attached  to  them  of  buildings  and  rebuild- 
ings,  and  these  instances  are  given  to  show  that 
architecture  in  Saxon  England  was  anything  but  a 
stationary  art,  and  that  these  churches  were  built  of 
stone  and  possessed  aisles  and  chapels,  triforia  and 
clerestories,  and  central  and  other  towers  ;  and  that  the 
only  reason  why  in  these  days  we  cannot  absolutely 
fix  upon  any  portion  of  our  larger  minsters  as  being 
Saxon,  is  that  each  age  pulled  down  the  work  of  the 
preceding  age,  only  to  replace  it  with  something 
better;  but,  to  dismiss  Saxon  architecture  altogether, 
and  to  argue  that  it  never  existed,  and  that  the 
buildings  were  of  the  rudest  description,  and 

45 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

generally  built  of  wood,  as  some  authorities  do,  is  a 
manifest  absurdity,  and  a  wilful  shutting  of  one's  eyes 
to  documentary  evidence  so  clear  and  so  precise.  Thus 
what  can  be  clearer  than  the  following  description  of 
the  cathedral  at  York  given  by  Flaccus  Alcuinus  ? 

'  But  a  new  structure  of  a  wondrous  basilica  was  in 
the  days  of  this  bishop  (Egbert)  begun,  completed, 
and  consecrated.  The  house,  of  appropriate  altitude, 
is  supported  by  solid  columns  set  under  curved  arches. 
Within,  it  sparkles  with  admirable  ceilings  and  win- 
dows, and  its  beauty  shines  environed  with  many 
aisles  (or  apsidal  chapels).  It  has  a  great  number  of 
apartments  with  distinct  roofs,  which  contain  thirty 
altars  with  various  ornaments.  Two  disciples  (Ean- 
wald  and  Alcuin),  at  the  command  of  the  prelate, 
erected  this  temple,  and  he  himself  consecrated  it  to 
the  '  Alma  Sophia,'  ten  days  before  his  death." 

At  Ripon,  Stephen  Eddy  tells  us  that  St  Wilfrid 
built  a  new  church  of  polished  stone,  with  columns 
variously  ornamented,  and  porches.  It  was,  perhaps, 
in  bad  imitation  of  the  marble  buildings  he  had  seen 
in  Italy  that  he  washed  the  outer  walls  of  this  original 
York  minster,  and  made  them  as  the  prophet  says, 
whiter  than  snow.  The  account  of  the  dedication  of 
the  church  at  Ripon  in  Eddy's  "  Life  of  St  Wilfrid  " 
is  the  earliest  of  the  kind  which  is  left  to  us  of  the 
dedication  of  an  English  church,  and  is  therefore  of 
unusual  value  and  interest  (see  Churton's  Early 
English  Church  in  Burns',  "  Englishman's  Library  ' 
1840,  p.  88  ct  scq.}.  It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to 
gather  from  this  description  what  the  detail  of  this 
cathedral  at  York  was  like,  but  it  is  pretty  safe  to 


THE  FABRIC  OF  THE  CHURCH 

say  that  this  building,  like  most  others  of  north- 
western Europe,  was  a  clumsy  imitation  of  the  Roman 
basilicas,  and  that  what  is  called  Saxon  Romanesque 
was  simply  Italian  worked  out  afresh,  in  the  absence 
of  examples,  from  the  inner  consciousness  of  the 
Teutonic  mind.* 

It  has  been  observed  that  the  plan  adopted  by 
the  Anglo-Saxons  was  invariably  the  basilican,  but 
certain  modifications  began  to  be  apparent  both  in 
the  structural  plan  and  in  the  ritual  arrangements. 

The  growth  of  monasticism  had  a  good  deal  to  do 
with  this  ;  the  necessity  of  a  long  choir  to  accommodate 
a  number  of  monks,  and  the  consequent  seclusion  of 
their  altar,  their  part  of  the  church  being  screened 
off,  necessitated  the  provision  of  an  altar  for  the  laity, 
either  outside  the  screen,  or  in  some  chapel  especially 
set  aside  for  that  purpose.  The  cross  was  very  strongly 
marked  in  the  ground-plans.  The  projection  of  the 
transepts  brought  this  into  greater  prominence,  but 
these  changes  only  affected  the  large  cathedral 
churches  and  monasteries  ;  the  smaller  parish  churches 
were  still  constructed  in  a  modified  form  of  the 
basilican  type,  with  or  without  aisles. 

At  Brixworth  in  Northamptonshire  we  have  the 
remains  of  a  Saxon  church,  now  considerably  reduced 
and  modified,  founded  by  Saxulphus  as  a  cell  to 

*  Venantius  Forttinatus — the  courtly  Bishop  of  Poitiers  has  left 
us  a  pompous,  but  it  is  to  be  feared,  somewhat  apocryphal  account 
of  the  Cathedral  of  Paris,  which  Childebert  I.  at  the  entreaties  of 
vSt  Germain  constructed  a  little  to  the  north  of  one  which  had  been 
built  about  A.D.  365  imder  Valentinian  I.  and  dedicated  to  St 
Stephen.  For  a  long  time  Childebert's  Notrc-Pame  shared 
cathedral  dignity  with  the  adjacent  one  of  St  Stephen, 

47 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Medeshamstede  (Peterborough)  c.  700.  The  plan 
consisted  of  a  nave  of  four  bays  with  north  and  south 
aisles,  a  choir  with  two  short  aisles  only  half  its  length, 
and  a  semicircular  sanctuary  beyond.  The  arches 
are  quite  plain,  and  are  supported  by  square  piers,  or 
rather  portions  of  the  wall,  for  the  pier  is  of  the  same 
size  as  the  opening;  the  aisles  have  been  destroyed, 
but  the  foundations  yet  remain ;  they  opened  into 
square  chambers  at  each  end,  communicating  with  the 
western  tower  and  the  choir ;  an  arch  separated  the 
nave  from  the  choir,  and  the  choir  from  the  apsidal 
sanctuary,  and  a  similar  arch  existed  at  the  west  end, 
opening  into  the  tower.  It  very  much  resembles  the 
church  at  Reculver.  Roman  brick  is  extensively  used 
in  both  these  churches.  The  similarity  between  these 
buildings  is  so  striking  that  we  must  either  reject 
Reculver  as  being  Roman,  or  Brixworth  as  being 
Saxon,  and  the  evidence  being  so  strongly  in  favour 
of  the  former,  it  is  most  probable  that  the  foundation 
by  Saxulphus  was  only  a  re-foundation. 

Scattered  throughout  England  are  certain  other 
architectural  remains  to  be  found  in  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  churches.  These  remains  are  supposed 
to  be  Saxon,  and  they  generally  consist  of  rude 
baluster-like  shafts,  angular  straight-sided  arches, 
flat  strip-like  pilasters,  corner-stones  alternately  long 
and  short,  masonry  disposed  in  what  is  called  herring- 
bone fashion,  and  doorways  with  plain  stone  semi- 
circular arches,  without  any  mouldings  or  enrichments 
whatever.  The  Churches  of  Sompting  near  Worthing, 
Barnack  in  Northamptonshire,  Dewhurst  in  Lincoln- 
shire, St  Benet  (Cambridge),  and  Bradford-on-Avon 

48 


THE  FABRIC  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Church  in  Wiltshire,  are  all  in  this  style,  or  show 
decided  traces. 

But  we  have  a  remarkable  corroboration  of  the  rich- 
ness of  these  Saxon  buildings  in  many  of  the 
beautifully  illuminated  manuscripts  of  the  same 
period . 

They  represent  very  often  buildings  showing  all 
the  characteristics  of  a  style  now  called  Norman. 
Take  as  an  instance  the  "  Benedictional  of  St  Ethel- 
wold,"  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire,  and  in  these  gorgeous  pages  we  find  in 
the  borders  and  in  the  miniatures  columns  and  capitals 
of  which  we  can  easily  find  the  prototypes. 

This  book  had  been  ordered  by  St  Ethelwold  of  a 
certain  monk  subject  to  him,  one  Godemann,  and  in 
a  part  of  the  metrical  dedication  occurs  this  passage  : 
"  He  ordered  also  to  be  made  in  it  many  arches 
elegantly  decorated  and  fitted  .up  with  various  orna- 
mental pictures  expressed  in  divers  beautiful  colours 
and  gold." 

Ethelwold,  or  Athelwold,  has  been  referred  to  in  the 
history  of  Winchester  Cathedral  as  a  rebuilder  of  that, 
and  also  of  Peterborough,  Ely,  and  Thorney,  and  the 
date  of  this  book  must  therefore  be  between  the  years 
963  and  984 ;  and  on  the  last  page  is  represented  a 
bishop — probably  St  Ethelwold,  or  his  predecessor, 
St  Swithin — giving  the  benediction,  and  at  the  top 
some  architectural  details,  especially  a  very  graceful 
bell-tower,  surmounted  by  a  weather-cock,  showing 
the  bells;  and  Wolstan,  whose  poem  has  already  been 
referred  to,  thus  speaks  of  this  very  tower  :  — 
"  A  sparkling  tower,  which  reflects  from  heaven  the 

49  D 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

first  rays  of  the  rising  sun.  It  has  five  compart- 
ments, pierced  by  open  windows,  and  on  all  four  sides 
as  many  ways  are  open .  The  lofty  peaks  of  the  tower 
are  capped  with  pointed  roofs.  Above  these  stands 
a  rod  with  golden  balls,  and  at  the  top  a  mighty 
golden  cock  which  boldly  turns  its  face  to  every  wind 
that  blows." 

But  now  we  approach  a  period  always  looked  upon 
as  a  turning-point  in  our  history,  that  is  the  so-called 
conquest  by  William,  Duke  of  Normandy — no  more 
a  conquest  than  that  of  another  William,  of  Dutch 
extraction,    at   a    later    period    of   our    history;    and 
according  to  almost  universal  authority,  we  are  called 
upon  to  believe  that  in  a  short  period  of  about  twenty 
years   every   ecclesiastical   building   in   the   kingdom 
was  either  wholly  or  partly  rebuilt,  and  that  the  archi- 
tecture of  Saxon  England  was  entirely  destroyed,  thus 
disposing  of   all   the   great   cathedrals,    and    equally 
great  abbeys,  and  some  thousands  of  parish  churches. 
It  might  have  been  so,  but  does  it  seem  likely  ?      Was 
the  state  of  society  sufficiently  tranquil  to  allow  of 
this  ?  or  sufficiently  wealthy  to  afford  it  ?     Let  others 
answer  this   as  they  can,   but  the   impression    must 
remain  upon  the  mind  of  all  who  consider  this  question 
that  in    nine   cases   out   of    ten   these    pompous    and 
eulogistic  descriptions  of  the  universal  rebuilding  by 
Norman  bishops  and  abbots  were  nothing  more  than 
recasings    and    remodellings    of    existing    structures, 
and  that  we  still  possess  in  most  of  them  the  shell  or 
carcass   of   the   original   Saxon    work,    overlaid   with 
later  enrichments  and  embellishments. 


iii    -.i\.  \I\KI\  M  M, 1. 1<  •!<!',  HKK<.\M<>. 

K"tn  in-  ^U.K    »t\  !•     "t    I  -i  >m'>:ir<l\ .  ) 


CHAPTER    III 

THE     ANC7LO-NORMAN     AND     TRANSITIONAL     STYLKS, 


Massive  character  of  the  Norman  style—  Some  Anglo-Norman 
Cathedrals  —  Their  plans  and  general  features  —  Various  types 
of  columns  —  Round  towers  —  Vaulted  chancels  —  Sculpture  — 
Gradual  enrichment  —  The  transition  from  the  Round  to  the 
Pointed  Arched  style  —  Causes  which  led  to  the  Transition  —  Its 
progress  in  France,  Germany  and  England  —  Increasing  light- 
ness in  construction  and  detail  —  Influence  of  the  Cistercian 
Order  —  The  retro-choir  of  Chichester  Cathedral—  List  of  the 
most  remarkable  English  works  of  the  period. 

THE  multitude  of  great  architectural  works  erected 
at  the  junction  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries, 
and  the  vast  scale  on  which  the  majority  of  them  are 
designed,  combined  wih  the  immense  solidity  of  the 
walls,  and  the  massive  character  of  all  structural 
features,  are  such  as  to  awaken  a  feeling  of  astonish- 
ment at  the  indomitable  energy  and  the  command  of 
almost  inexhaustible  resources  such  buildings  imply, 
and  of  admiration  for  the  religious  zeal  which  dictated 
the  devotion  of  so  much  labour  and  treasure  and 
thought  to  the  honour  of  the  Most  High,  and  the 
service  of  His  Temple. 

Nearly  every  cathedral  and  great  abbej^  was  rebuilt 
on  a  stupendous  scale,  new  cathedrals  and  new  abbeys 

51 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

were  founded,  and  churches  of  all  grades,  from 
these  vast  temples  down  to  the  smallest  village  church, 
were  erected  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  country.  In  fact,  almost  every  one  of  our  existing 
cathedrals  is,  either  in  its  ground-plan  or  its  actual 
fabric,  an  outward  and  visible  sign  and  token  of  the 
occupation  of  England  by  the  Normans,  and  of  the 
advanced  civilisation  introduced  by  them. 

A  hasty  survey  of  our  cathedrals  will  verify  the 
assertion,  and  serve  to  bring  home  the  fact,  the 
importance  of  which  is  hardly  sufficiently  realised, 
of  the  permanence  of  the  stamp  first  impressed  on  the 
ecclesiastical  architecture  of  this  country. 

Of  the  thirty-six  cathedral  churches  of  England, 
all  but  seven — St  Paul's,  Wells,  Lichfield,  Man- 
chester, Ripon,  Salisbury,  and  Southwark  *  —exhibit 
more  or  less  of  actual  Norman  work,  or  of  the  design 
and  arrangement  peculiar  to  that  period,  in  the  midst 
of  the  later  additions  with  which  they  have  been 
surrounded  or  overlaid.  And  even  these  seven  are 
hardly  such  as  to  constitute  real  exceptions. 

Manchester  is  a  late  foundation,  only  erected  into 
a  collegiate  church  in  1422  ;  St  Paul's  is  an  Italian 
Renaissance  building,  replacing  the  vastest  and 
grandest  of  all  the  Norman  churches  of  England  ; 
while  Salisbury,  the  representative  of  the  ancient 
Norman  cathedral,  founded  by  St  Osmund  in  1078 
within  the  inhospitable  fortress  of  Old  Sarum,  was 
built  on  a  site  where  no  church  had  previously  stood. 

*  I  exclude  from  thesr  such  lar^e  parish  churches  as  Newcastle, 
\Vakcfield,  Bury,  Clu  hnsford,  etc.,  which  have  only  been  raised 
to  the  dignity  of  cathedrals  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century. 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND   TRANSITIONAL 

The  other  four,  Lichfield,  Ripon,  Southwark,  and 
Wells,  stand  on  the  site  of  Norman  buildings,  and 
enshrine  relics  of  the  original  structure,  either 
beneath  the  pavement,  or  within  the  walls  of  later 
erections. 

Of  the  remaining  number,  Durham,  Chichester, 
Gloucester,  Hereford,  Norwich,  Oxford,  and  Peter- 
borough— are  strictly  Norman  buildings  ;  for  although 
there  is  not  one  to  which  later  additions  have  not  been 
made,  and  which  has  not  been  subjected  to  continual 
alteration  and  modification,  the  original  fabric  stands 
out  plain  and  unmistakable  in  its  rugged  grandeur. 

Of  the  others,  a  very  large  portion  of  St  Albans, 
the  nave  and  transepts  of  Ely ;  at  Rochester  and 
Southwell  the  naves,  and  at  Winchester  the  tran- 
septs, are  among  the  grandest  and  most  characteristic 
examples  of  the  Norman  style. 

The  nave  of  Winchester  is  also  essentially  a  Norman 
structure,  but  translated  into  Perpendicular  by 
William  of  Wykeham's  ingenuity,  without  disturb- 
ing the  solidity  of  the  original  walls  and  cores  of  the 
pillars. 

The  almost  unique  transeptal  towers  of  Exeter,  the 
truncated  nave  of  Carlisle,  the  north  transept  of 
Chester,  also  bespeak  their  Norman  founder.  Even 
cathedrals  which  to  an  ordinary  observer  appear  to 
be  structures  of  a  later  date,  will  usually  yield  up 
influences  of  their  Norman  origin  to  the  more 
searching  investigator.  The  crypts  of  Canterbury, 
Gloucester,  Worcester,  and  York  reveal  the  plan  and 
character  of  the  churches  that  preceded  the  existing 
fabrics,  while  in  the  first-named  cathedral  a  close 

53 


examination  will  prove  how  much  of  the  "  glorious 
choir  "  of  Conrad  still  survives  amidst  the  lighter 
and  more  refined  work  of  the  two  Williams — of  Sens 
and  the  Englishman — and  at  Worcester  a  practised 
eye  will  as  certainly  discover  the  Norman  character  of 
the  transepts  and  the  wall  of  the  south  aisle  of  the 
nave. 

At  Bristol,  the  evidences  of  Norman  date  are  but 
slight.  But  a  capital  in  the  south  transept,  and  some 
corbels  in  a  staircase  on  the  north  side,  and  the 
masonry  of  other  parts  offer  proofs  which  cannot  be 
gainsaid  that  the  walls  of  Fitzharding's  church  of 
1118  still  in  the  main  exist.  In  speaking  of  Bristol 
Cathedral,  I  allude  only  to  the  main  fabric,  for  it 
possesses  a  chapter-house,  and  a  vestibule  to  it,  which 
are  among  the  finest  works  of  the  later  Norman 
period  in  the  country. 

Even  Lincoln,  which  comes  next  to  Salisbury  as 
a  building  of  one  style,  and  where  no  rude,  inartistic 
relics  of  a  previous  age  disturb  the  exquisite  harmony 
which  unites  the  Early  English  in  its  varied  progres- 
sive development  into  one  perfect  whole,  is  not  entirely 
destitute  of  structural  traces  of  its  founder,  Remigius, 
and  his  Norman  successors.  The  foundations  of  the 
apse  and  the  side  walls  of  his  choir  lurk  unseen 
beneath  the  floor  of  the  stalls,  while  the  three  gigantic 
c-avernous  recesses  of  the  west  front,  which,  in  their 
rude  outlines,  dimly  foreshadow  the  glories  of  Peter- 
borough's transcendent  portals,  manifest  the  sternness 
of  the  Early  Xonnan  character  as  truly  as  the  intricate 
arcades  rising  tier  above  tier  at  the  base  of  the  western 
towers  and  their  gables,  in  their  barbaric  richness, 

54 


TIIF.    \.\VK.     NORWICH     C'A  II I  Kl  )K  A  I. 
(Anglo-Norman    -i\  ]c. ) 


To  face  p.   54. 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND   TRANSITIONAL 

tell  of  the  increased  refinement  and  architectural  skill 
which  was  gradually  developing  itself  on  bolh  sides 
of  the  Channel.* 

Of  abbey  churches  exhibiting  the  Anglo-Norman 
style  on  a  scale  equal  in  grandeur  to  that  of  cathedrals 
may  be  named,  Christchurch,  Dunstable,  Ronisey, 
Tewkesbury,  Thorney,  Waltham,  Worksop,  and 
Wymondham. 

If  we  desire  to  know  what  was  the  character  of 
these  stupendous  fabrics  when  they  first  left  the  hands 
of  their  Norman  builders,  there  are  sufficient  materials 
to  enable  us  to  form  a  very  distinct  idea.  Divested 
of  later  alterations,  which  at  once  declare  themselves, 
the  entire  fabrics  of  Peterborough — the  most  com- 
pletely Norman  church  in  England,  and  the  pride  of 
northern  Romanesque — Norwich,  Durham,  Glou- 
cester, Hereford,  Chichester,  and  St  Albans,  together 
with  the  large  Norman  portions  of  Ely,  Winchester, 
Rochester,  etc.,  set  before  us  most  clearly  the  Norman 
minster  in  its  majestic,  almost  awful,  simplicity. 

Of  them  all,  none  preserve  their  original  Norman 
plan  and  elevations,  both  external  and  internal,  so 
little  undisturbed  as  Norwich,  Peterborough,  and  St 
Albans.  None  display  more  prominently  the  peculiar 
characteristics  of  the  style.  We  see  the  long,  unbroken 
nave  (extending  to  the  length,  at  St  Albans,  of  two 
hundred  and  eighty  feet;  Norwich,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  feet ;  Peterborough,  two  hundred  and  eleven  feet), 
bay  after  bay  in  the  latter— for  St  Albans  nave  has 

*  A  list  of  some  of  the  most  important  Anglo-Norman  churches— 
cathedral,  monastic  and  parochial — will  be  found  at  the  end  of 
this  chapter. 

55 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

been  in  parts  reconstructed,  owing  either  to  accident 
or  to  a  desire  for  change — bay  after  bay  succeeding  one 
another  in  unbroken  succession ;  the  transept  of  bold 
projection,  so  happily  interrupting  the  continuous 
lines  of  the  main  arms  of  the  cross,  the  chapels  pro- 
jecting from  its  eastern  face  for  the  reception  of  the 
altars,  now  so  rapidly  increasing  in  number ;  the 
central  tower,  the  short  eastern  arm  or  presbytery  * 
terminating  in  the  universal  feature,  a  semicircular 
apse,  with  or  without  the  aisles  of  the  presbytery 
being  continued  round  it.  When  the  circumambient 
aisle  was  employed,  as  at  Norwich  and  Gloucester, 
chapels,  generally  three,  radiated  from  it.  Usually 
the  west  front  was  flanked  by  a  pair  of  towers,  as  we 
may  see  to-day  at  Durham,  Southwell,  and  Worksop, 
and  formerly  at  Canterbury,  Chester,  Gloucester, 
and  St  Albans.  Ely  has  one  western  tower,  so  had 
Hereford  until  its  fall  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  so  had  Bury  St  Edmunds,  which,  in 
vastness  of  dimensions,  exceeded  all  the  great  East 
Anglian  minsters. 

On  the  north  or  south  sides— generally  the  latter 
—were  the  cloisters,  chapter-house,  refectory,  dor- 
mitory, scriptorium,  and  other  apparatus  of  a  monastic 
house,  for  with  the  exception  of  Chichester,  Exeter, 
Lichfield,  Lincoln,  Old  St  Paul's,  Salisbury,  Wells, 
York,  and  the  four  Welsh  cathedrals  of  Bangor, 

*  In  great  Norman  churches  the  eastern  arm  rarely  exceeded 
four  bays  in  length.  It  was  reserved  exclusively  for  the  cere- 
monial of  the  altar,  the  chorus  cantorum  being  beneath  the 
central  tower  or,  as  at  Norwich,  occupying  the  easternmost  bays 
of  the  nave. 

56 


ANGLO-NORMAN  AND  TRANSITIONAL 

St  Asaph,  Llandaff,  and  St  David's,  our  cathedrals 
were  the  churches  of  great  and  powerful  religious 
establishments,  usually  of  the  Benedictine  Order,  and 
the  Benedictines,  as  is  well  known,  were  great  pro- 
motors  of  dignified  buildings,  and  to  them  are  largely 
owing  those  Norman  cathedrals,  which,  either  wholly 
or  in  part,  have  descended  to  our  own  day. 

No   modification,    however,    of   the   existing    plan 
adopted  by  the  Saxons — that  is,  the  basilican,  with 
transepts    and    aisles    and    apses,    with   surrounding 
aisles  and  chapels  for  the  larger  churches,  and  naves, 
with  or  without  aisles  and  chancels  and  western  tower 
for  the  ordinary,  parish  churches — took  place  on  the 
change  of  dynasty  in  1066 ;  but  there  was  one  feature 
which  soon  became  universal,  namely,  vaulting  after 
the  Roman  manner,  that  is,  without  diagonal  ribs,  at 
first  only  over  the  aisles  and  chapels,  the  main  roof 
being  still  of  timber,  according  to  the  old  basilican 
tradition.     The  principle  of  this  vaulting  was  that 
of  two  barrel-vaults  intersecting  one  another  at  right 
angles,    a    principle    known    and    practised    by    the 
Romans.     The  semicircular   arch   is   universal ;   the 
capitals  of  the  pillars   are  of  that  character  called 
cushioned  cap;  the  bases  are  plain,  generally  only  of 
one  member;  ornament  is   at   first  sparingly  intro- 
duced, although  as  the  century  approaches  the  end 
it  becomes  redundant,  giving  to  the  so-called  Norman 
style  a  richness  scarcely  equalled,  and  never  excelled, 
by   the   successive    styles.     The   piers,    which    were 
before  nothing  more  than  one  or  two  plain  orders  in 
the  arches  carried  down  to  the  ground,  and  separated 
from  them  by  narrow  strips  of  masonry  doing  duty 

57 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

for  capitals  became  now  pillars,  as  at  St  Albans. 
Sometimes  these  are  cylinders  of  enormous  girth  like 
those  at  Gloucester,  Tewkesbury,  Malvern,  Durham, 
Waltham,  and  St  John's,  Chester;  or  polygonal 
masses,  as  in  the  transepts  and  choir  of  Peterborough, 
and  the  naves  of  Walsoken  and  Whaplode,  the  former 
being  frequently  enriched  with  variously  patterned 
groovings. 

At  Ely  and  Norwich,  in  the  nave  of  Peterborough, 
at  Dunstable,  Christchurch,  and  Romsey,  clusters  of 
shafts  affixed  to  massive  piers  support  the  arches  and 
the  groining  ribs  of  the  aisles. 

In  many  churches  the  circular  column  of  slenderer 
proportions  was  employed  with  the  short  neck  and 
square,  tile-like  abacus,  as  in  Kent  at  Margate; 
St  Peter's;  Minster;  St  Mary's,  Dover;  and  St  Mar- 
garet's at  Clyffe;  in  St  Bartholomew's,  Smithfield ; 
St  John's  in  the  Tower ;  St  Sepulchre's,  Cambridge, 
Worksop  Priory,  and  Kingsthorpe,  Northants.  The 
shorter,  stouter  column  was  frequently  used,  excel- 
lent examples  occurring  at  Youlgrave,  Derbyshire, 
and  Clun,  Halesowen,  and  Wenlock,  Salop. 

The  arches  of  the  triforia,  instead  of  being  one  open- 
ing, now  had  two  or  more  arches  grouped  under  one 
containing  arch,  the  tympanum  being  left  solid,  as  at 
Ely  and  Peterborough,  Christchurch  and  Romsey,  or 
one  arch  of  the  same  width  as  that  below,  as  at 
Norwich  ;  and  the  clerestory,  instead  of  having  one 
window  perfectly  plain  and  only  splayed  internally, 
is  enriched  now  on  the  inside  by  being  seen  through 
an  arcade  of  three  arches  on  colonettes. 

A  greater  use  is  now  made  of  wrought  stonework, 

53 


THK    CHOIR,     I'K TKRBOROt  (.1!    (\IHKDR\I. 

l.\rii;l<>-\orm.m    -lylf.  I 


To  face  p.  .-,S. 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND   TRANSITIONAL 

the  rough  walling  now  being  universally  ashlared — 
that  is,  covered  with  a  casing  of  wrought  stone  blocks. 
The  larger  churches  are  generally  adorned  with 
three  towers,  sometimes  more,  and  are  surmounted  by 
high  pyramidal  roofs  covered  with  lead.  The  round 
church-towers  are  almost  confined  to  the  old  limits  of 
East  Anglia. 

There  are  two  in  Berkshire  (Great  Shefford  and 
Welford  *)  two  in  Sussex  (Southease  and  Piddinghoe) 
one  in  Surrey,  two  in  Cambridgeshire  (Snailwell  and 
Waterless),  and  seven  in  Essex  (South  Ockendon, 
Great  Leighs,  Bromfield,  Bardfield,  Saling,  Lamarsh, 
and  Pentlow),  whilst  in  Norfolk  there  are  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five,  and  in  Suffolk  forty.  Much  anti- 
quarian energy  and  research  have  been  expended  on 
them ;  and  it  was  long  the  fashion  to  assign  a  Danish 
origin  to  them,  as  the  work  of  builders  from  the  time 
of  Sweyne  to  that  of  Harthacnut.  But  such  towers 
are  not  found  in  Denmark ;  nor  do  they  occur  in 
those  parts  of  Northumbria  which  were  most  largely 
colonised  by  Danes.  Moreover,  their  workman- 
ship is  by  no  means  so  rude  or  simple  as  has  been 
asserted ;  and  in  some  instances  their  upper  portions 
display  elaborate  ornament,  unquestionably  of  Norman 
character.  The  truth  seems  to  be  that  while  the 
greater  number  are  of  Norman  date,  a  few  may  be 
earlier,  and  more  later;  and  that,  constructed  of  flint 

*  The  upper  stage  of  this  tower  is  octagonal,  and  an  Early 
English  addition.  It  is  crowned  with  a  graceful  spire  of  the 
same  period,  having  a  gabled  window  of  two  lights,  at  the  bas« 
of  each  side,  a  somewhat  umisual  arrangement.  Other  of  these 
round  towers  have  had  octagonal  stories  added  in  later  times ; 
that  of  Poringland  Church  near  Norwich  is  an  example. 

59 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

(as  they  are  almost  without  exception)  they  are  built 
round  to  suit  the  material,  and  to  save  the  expense 
of  stone  quoins  for  the  corners,  which  are  necessary 
for  square  towers,  and  which  often  may  not  have  been 
easy  to  procure  in  districts  where  building  stone  has 
all  to  be  imported. 

The  same  cause  accounts  for  the  frequent  and  long- 
continued  use  in  the  same  districts  of  flat  bricks  or 
tiles  for  turning  the  arches  over  the  doors  and  win- 
dows, which  are  either  of  Roman  manufacture,  or  an 
imitation  of  the  same  form.  These  round  towers 
may  all  have  been  built  by  one  class  (or  lodge)  of 
workmen,  and  the  period  assigned  for  their  erection 
between  noo  and  1150.  They  are  all  of  the  same 
material  and  shape,  and,  with  one  exception  (St 
Mary's,  Wortham  Everard,  Suffolk,  which  is  larger 
than  the  others)  all  are  of  the  same  dimensions. 

They  are  without  staircases,  like  the  Irish  round 
towers,  and  like  them,  unquestionably  served  as 
belfries.  In  many  instances  the  ancient  church  has 
been  replaced  by  a  more  modern  structure,  while  the 
tower  remains.  None  of  these  towers  are  lofty.  They 
rise  to  about  sixty  feet,  with  a  diameter  of  about  six- 
teen feet,  much  of  which  is  generally  taken  up  by  the 
thickness  of  the  walls.  It  may  be  added  that  the  finest 
and  most  noticeable  round  towers  are  in  Suffolk. 
Those  of  Little  Saxliam  and  Herringfleet,  especially, 
have  very  rich  Norman  work  in  their  upper  stories. 
In  some  instances  (as  at  Poringland,  near  Norwich) 
an  octagonal  story  of  Perpendicular  character  has  been 
engrafted  upon  the  round  portion. 

The    external    doorways    now    become    of    several 

60 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND   TRANSITIONAL 

orders,  each  differently  and  highly  enriched.  Figure 
sculpture  of  a  rude  and  archaic  character,  interspersed 
with  gryphons  and  dragons  and  rude  foliage,  now 
adorns  the  capitals ;  and,  lastly,  two  very  characteristic 
enrichments,  the  chevron  or  zigzag,  and  the  billet. 
The  walls  are  always  of  an  enormous  thickness,  and 
the  buttresses  are  of  only  a  very  slight  projection. 

In  the  small  parish  churches,  the  chancel  arch, 
which  is  often  very  narrow,  has  sometimes  two 
smaller  arches  on  either  side,  and  following  a  primi- 
tive tradition,  the  chancels  are  generally  square-ended. 
This  square  end  is  .undoubtedly  an  ancient  British 
custom,  perhaps  one  of  those  traditionary  rules 
derived  from  the  Eastern  Church  before  Roman 
colonists  or  missionaries  introduced  the  apse,  and  in 
the  low  chancel  arch  and  the  two  side  ones,  as  at 
Barfreston,  near  Canterbury,  there  may  be  just  a 
faint  reminiscence  of  the  iconostasis  and  its  triple 
doors.* 

Kilpeck,  Moccas  and  a  few  other  churches  in  Here- 
fordshire have  this  peculiarity  of  plan ;  a  square 
chancel,  and  a  second  arch  opening  into  an  apsidal 
recess,  resembling  the  "  pras-Conquest  "  churches  of 
Brixworth  and  South  Elmham.  In  the  great  churches 
at  Caen  built  by  Duke  William  and  his  consort, 

*  A  small  or  even  medium-sized  Anglo-Norman  church  is  very 
rarely  vaulted  throughout,  the  nave  having  a  timber  roof,  but 
the  chancel  almost  invariably  a  groined  one.  Admirable  examples 
of  small  groined  chancels  are  :  Hemel  Hempstead  Church,  Herts; 
Iffley,  Oxon;  Stowe,  Lincolnshire;  St  John  Devizes,  Wilts;  Ticken- 
cote,  Rutlandshire;  Compton,  Surrey;  St  Peter's,  in  the  East, 
Oxford  ;  Castle  Rising",  Norfolk  ;  Elksto.ic  and  Rudford,  Gloucester- 
shire; Stewkley  and  Upton,  Bucks. 

61 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Matilda,  called  respectively  the  Abbaye  aux  Hommes 
and  the  Abbaye  aux  Dames,  we  might  have  had  a  good 
opportunity  of  comparing  these  buildings  with  the  work 
at  Winchester,  St  Albans,  and  Rochester;  but  these 
Normandy  examples  have  unfortunately  undergone 
some  very  material  changes  since  their  first  erection, 
and  recent  researches  now  prove  that  very  little 
remains  of  the  originals — the  twelfth  century  having 
remodelled  them,  and  the  thirteenth  having,  in  the 
case  of  the  Abbaye  aux  Hommes,  replaced  the 
Romanesque  choir  with  one  of  the  most  elegant 
examples  of  the  first  pointed  or  lancet  style.  The 
addition  of  the  vaulting  also  has  entirely  changed 
their  appearance,  for  the  original  roofs  were  of  timber. 

In  the  Chapel  of  St  John  in  the  White  Tower  we 
find  a  very  early  and  very  pure  specimen  of  Norman 
architecture,  and  again  in  the  dormitory  of  West- 
minster Abbey,  some  Early  Norman  work,  the  latter 
being  very  similar  to  the  transepts  at  Winchester. 

Although  it  was  in  the  mediaeval  buildings  of 
England  and  France  that  the  variety  of  ornamentation, 
which  is  based  upon  forms  of  vegetation,  was  most 
extensively  employed  (if  it  did  not  then  reach  its 
highest  development),  it  has  been  in  use  in  the  East 
far  back  in  the  earliest  ages.  In  the  Old  Testament 
there  is  record  of  the  priests'  robes  "and  the  furniture 
of  the  Temple  being  adorned  with  figures  which, 
more  or  less,  resembled  the  flowers  and  fruits  of 
Palestine,  and  in  the  Assyrian  bas-reliefs  and  other 
sculpture  we  actually  possess  examples  of  this  orna- 
mentation. It  was  no  doubt  but  sparingly  employed 
by  the  Greeks,  but  (as  in  the  necking  of  the  columns  of 

62 


CHAPEL    OF     ST.     JOHN    IN     Till-;    TOUKK    ()|      LONDON. 
(Anglo-Norman    >t  >!'-•) 


Tt>  face   p.  (12. 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND   TRANSITIONAL 

the  Erectheum)  it  became  in  their  hands  most  refined 
in  character,  and  like  other  Greek  work,  continues 
to  have  influence.  One  of  the  strangest  things  in  the 
history  of  art  is  the  immortality  of  certain  forms  of 
ornament,  simple  enough  in  themselves,  but  still 
surviving  more  important  works,  and  this  is  seen 
especially  in  following  the  growth  of  architectural 
foliage. 

For  instance,  the  anthemion  and  other  ornaments, 
often  found  on  Greek  pottery,  and  which  probably 
were  derived  from  Egypt  or  Assyria,  were  adopted 
as  soon  as  they  were  seen  by  the  Normans,  and 
imitated  in  several  of  their  capitals.  But  of  all  forms 
of  Greek  foliage,  not  one  has  had  so  wide  an  influence 
as  the  acanthus,  although  its  invention  does  not  date 
beyond  the  declining  days  of  Greek  art. 

It  will,  no  doubt,  be  ever  regarded  as  a  triumph  of 
conventionalism,  although  it  has  been  so  successfully 
treated  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  with  precision  to 
what  species  the  leaves  belong ;  while  some  investi- 
gators, like  Sir  William  Chambers,  have  maintained 
that  they  are  of  a  different  order,  and  that  the  leaves 
around  the  Roman  capitals  are  of  the  olive  rather  than 
the  acanthus.  "  The  inferior  style,"  said  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,  "  alone  marks  the  variety  of  stuffs — a 
painter  in  the  grand  style  does  not  debase  his  concep- 
tions with  discriminations  of  drapery ;  with  him  the 
clothing  is  neither  woollen,  linen,  stuff,  nor  velvet- 
it  is  drapery  and  nothing  more." 

In  a  similar  spirit  the  classic  and  many  modern 
designers  have  worked.  With  them  it  little  matters 
how  many  of  the  essential  characteristics  of  plant-form 

63 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

are  crushed  out  so  long  as  the  result  is  supposed  to  be 
"  ornament." 

There  are  two  types  of  acanthus  foliage ;  one  with 
sharp  and  spiky  lobes,  which  was  adopted  by  the 
Greeks,  and  which  was  as  much  like  the  thistle  or 
sea-holly  as  the  acanthus  spinosus ;  and  the  other  the 
round,  flowing,  soft-lobed  and  less  beautiful  leaf  of 
the  Romans,  which  may  be  supposed  to  follow  the 
acanthus  mollis.  This  is  the  more  universal  in  use 
of  the  two.  Both  these  types  have  had  an  effect  on 
subsequent  work  in  other  styles — the  Byzantine 
following  the  Greek,  and  the  Romanesque  following 
the  Roman  leaf ;  and  as  time  went  on  classic  forms  of 
foliage  were  engrafted  upon  the  mediaeval,  and 
often  in  the  earlier  stages  both  the  Byzantine  and 
Romanesque  influences  can  be  distinctly  and  separ- 
ately traced. 

But  in  England  there  was  a  style  of  ornamen- 
tation employed  in  Christian  churches  long  before 
either  Byzantine  or  other  foliage  could  have  been 
introduced.  It  is  probable  that  the  Anglo-Saxon 
churches  were  adorned  with  ornaments  of  the  same 
type  as  that  of  which  examples  survive  in  the  Irish 
crosses  and  illuminated  manuscripts,  consisting  of  a 
maze  of  lines,  bands,  serpents,  and  other  figures 
interlaced  in  a  very  intricate,  but  still  a  regulated 
manner.  This,  no  doubt,  was  a  beautiful  style.  It 
had,  to  judge  from  the  best  examples,  many  of  the 
recognised  principles  of  ornamental  design,  but  with 
the  rise  of  mediaeval  art  it  passed  awav  never  to  be 
revived  ;  for,  strange  to  say,  Celtic  ornament  is 
almost  the  only  type  from  which  modern  designers  will 

64 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND    TRANSITIONAL 

not  accept  inspiration.  This  interlaced  ornament 
was  also  supreme  in  Norway,  the  figures  and  other 
parts  having  a  rude  breadth  that  distinguishes  them 
from  Irish  work,  hut  there  is  an  absence  of  the 
delicacy  of  form  and  completeness  and  unity  of  design 
which  characterises  the  latter.  In  a  good  Irish 
example  it  seems  almost  inevitable  that  the  design 
should  take  one  form  and  no  other,  but  an  Early 
Norman  or  Scandinavian  carving  too  often  looks  as 
if  it  had  been  made  up  of  fragments  of  ornament,  and 
as  long  as  he  closely  filled  a  certain  space  the  work- 
man had  no  other  care.  The  contests  of  dragons, 
serpents,  and  other  chimeras  are  inseparable  from 
both,  but  the  Norman  dragon  differs  in  vigour  as  much 
from  the  Celtic,  as  the  Lombard  griffin  does  from  the 
Roman.  In  the  Irish  crosses  foliated  forms  are  rare, 
but  in  the  Early  Anglo-Norman  work  we  find  the 
interlaced  ornament  adapted  to  a  conventional  render- 
ing of  leaves. 

It  is  generally  accepted  that  the  improvement  in  the 
Norman  architecture  of  England  was  due  to  the 
increased  intercourse  with  the  east  and  the  south 
of  Europe,  and  one  of  the  ways  it  exhibited  itself 
was  in  the  introduction  of  foliage  which  eventually 
dispossessed  the  peculiar  ornament  of  Norman  work, 
and  if  architecture  is  worth  anything  as  history,  we 
can  see  in  this  the  softening  and  refining  of  the  rough, 
northern  mind. 

But  it  is  difficult  to  trace  in  all  cases  how  certain 
forms  of  ornament  have  originated,  or  to  say  pre- 
cisely from  what  source  they  were  drawn.  The 
minds  of  these  old  workers  were  often  open  to  such 

65  K 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

subtle  influences,  that  it  is  even  hazardous  to  offer 
an  opinion  as  to  what  may  have  guided  them.  Still, 
there  are  certain  broad  characteristic  features  and 
marked  resemblances  to  Classic  and  other  early  styles 
of  ornamentation  that  we  cannot  well  fail  in  perceiving 
to  a  very  great  extent  the  sources  from  which  the 
Norman  artist  drew  his  inspiration. 

Some  of  the  capitals  in  the  choir  of  Canterbury 
Cathedral  have  a  semi-classic  feeling,  such  as  might 
be  the  result  of  working  solely  from  recollection,  and 
the  capitals  in  Bishop  St  Hugh's  choir  at  Lincoln  are 
arranged  after  the  Corinthian,  hut  the  latter  is  a  type 
comparatively  rare  in  England. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  effects  of  that  transition 
period,  which  we  are  to  consider  later  in  this  chapter 
of  our  history  of  English  Gothic,  was  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  conventional  Norman  ornaments,  and  the 
substitution  for  them  of  foliage,  which  was  derived 
less  from  Classic  examples  than  from  living  plants. 
Canterbury  choir  is  generally  accepted  as  the  best 
example  in  which  this  can  be  seen,  and  the  foliage 
there  is  partially  taken  from  Nature,  and  is  often  very 
beautifully  conventionalised.* 

Another  circumstance  well  worth  noting  is,  that  no 
animal  form  is  found  mingled  with  the  foliage,  show- 
ing an  entire  change  from  the  previous  style,  where 
the  introduction  of  animal  form  was  so  common .  The 
whole  appears  to  be  of  Classic  origin,  and  the  capitals 

*  The  plants  which  their  sculptors  have  conventionalised  in 
certain  pier  capitals  in  the  cathedral  at  Paris,  are  those  commonly 
found  in  the  fields  around  that  city;  they  are  generally  Gothic  in 
feeling  and  have  nothing  in  common  with  those  which  crown  the 
columns  in  Anglo-Norman  churches. 

66 


ANGLO-NORMAN    AND    TRANSITIONAL 

to  be  based  upon  the  formation  of  the  Corinthian,  and 
are  quite  free  from  any  Celtic  forms.  Yet  in  our  own 
Early  English  we  have  frequent  scrollwork,  into 
which  is  wrought,  with  great  skill,  animals  which 
terminate  in  foliage  in  the  same  manner  as  we  find 
animal  form  intermingled  with  the  Norman  foliage 
of  the  Celtic  type.  Some  of  the  capitals  of  Canter- 
bury have  foliage  which  is  very  classical  in  character. 

Let  me  return  for  a  brief  space  to  the  kind 
of  ornamentation  which  characterised  the  English 
Romanesque,  and  which,  by  its  increase,  ripened 
it  for  transition.  It  consisted,  no  doubt,  mainly  of 
the  mechanical  classes  of  enrichment,  such  as  the 
chevron,  fret  (sometimes  quite  attic,  as  in  the  nave 
of  St  David's  Cathedral),  the  innumerable  kinds  of 
zigzag,  nail-head,  and  bird's  beak,  and  many  varieties 
of  surface  ornament. 

Whether  this  ornamentation  differed  from  that  of 
contemporary  buildings  in  Normandy  I  will  not  offer 
an  opinion,  though  the  doorways  here  are  often  more 
profuse  in  their  enrichments ;  indeed,  one  can  scarcely 
distinguish  the  architecture  of  the  exquisite  clerestory, 
added  early  in  the  twelfth  century  to  Matilda's 
Church  at  Caen,  from  that  of  Ernulf  and  Conrad's 
choirs  at  Canterbury,  or  that  of  the  beautiful  remains 
of  Ernulf's  chapter-house  and  cloister  at  Rochester, 
in  which  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  Anglo-Norman  refine- 
ment would  appear  to  have  been  reached. 

We  find  the  same  kind  of  ornamentation  to  prevail 
throughout  England,  and  in  no  less  degree  than  else- 
where in  Kent ;  as  for  example  the  Churches  of 
St  Margaret  at  Clyffe,  of  Barfreston,  of  Patrixbourne, 

67 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

and  the  small  remains  of  St  Augustine's  Abbey  at 
Canterbury.  That  these  became  more  and  more 
refined  as  the  transition  approached  we  see  in  the 
solitary  relic  of  Horton  Priory  and  New  Romney 
Church,  as  well  as  in  countless  buildings  spread  over 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  country,  such  as  the 
Cathedrals  of  Ely,  Hereford,  and  Rochester;  and  the 
Churches  of  Cholsey  (Surrey),  Elkstone,  South 
Cerney,  Siddington,  and  Wootten  (Gloucestershire), 
Hemel  Hempstead  (Hertfordshire),  Iffley  (Oxford- 
shire), Kilpeck  (Herefordshire),  St  Peter's  (North- 
ampton), Stourbridge  (Cambridgeshire),  Tickencote 
(Rutlandshire),  Walsoken  (Norfolk),  Stoneleigh 
(Warwickshire),  and  Worksop  (Notts). 

The  capitals,  where  foliated,  were  more  usually  of 
entwined  foliage  and  other  varieties,  not  at  all,  as  a 
rule,  assuming  a  Corinthianesque  form  ;  but  were  still 
more  frequently  formed  of  varieties  of  the  cushion 
capital  greatly  subdivided,  and  often  departing  very 
widely  indeed  from  the  original  type ;  and  had  we 
been  cut  off  from  communication  with  France  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  details  of  our  English  tran- 
sitional style  would  have  been  mainly  characterised 
by  the  elaborate  refinement  of  those  of  the  Anglo- 
Romanesque. 

It  is  impossible,  within  the  limits  assigned  to  me, 
to  attempt  to  treat  in  this  chapter  of  Romanesque 
architecture  in  its  varied  forms,  such  as  is  exhibited 
in  different  districts  of  Italy  and  of  France,  in 
Germany  and  England,  and  to  recount  how  each 
developed  itself  into  the  particular  form  from  which, 
in  its  own  country,  the  pointed  Gothic,  through  a 

68 


THE    NAVE.     TCH'RNAI    CATHEDRAL. 

(Romanesque    of    Belgium.) 


5 

"^L',%-.         "        — **•     3 


CKVI'T     AT    (;(>LI.IN(,i:N. 


To  face  p.  (.S. 


ANGLO-NORMAN    AND    TRANSITIONAL 

short  period  of  transition,  arose.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  in  each  country  of  western  Europe  the  Roman- 
esque style,  ever-increasing  in  richness  and  exuberance 
of  ornamentation,  did  so  develop  itself,  and  that  it 
did  in  the  early  part  of  the  twelfth  century  ripen  for 
a  great  change  which  everywhere  loomed  before  it  as 
an  inevitable  result. 

England  differed  from  most  others  in  this ;  that  her 
native  variety  of  Romanesque — sluggishly,  it  must 
be  confessed,  creeping  in  during  four  or  five  centuries 
— had  gradually  faded  away  before  the  far  superior 
Romanesque  imported  by  the  Normans,  and  almost 
forcibly  planted  in  its  room.  So  that  the  English 
developments,  upon  which  our  transition  from  the 
round  to  the  pointed-arch  system  had  to  be  founded, 
were  themselves  based  upon  a  style  which  had  only 
for  about  a  single  century  existed  on  our  soil. 

The  architecture  thus  summarily  eradicated  had 
lasted  as  long  as  from  the  days  of  Chaucer  to  the 
present  moment,  yet  it  had  failed  to  generate  any 
style  of  a  really  artistic  character ;  and  though  it  was 
thus  suddenly  supplanted  by  one  at  first  sight  little  less 
rude  than  itself,  it  was  by  one  which  contained  within 
itself  such  vigorous  germs  as  to  produce  in  less  than 
a  century  and  a  half,  by  its  mere  natural  growth,  a 
style  perhaps  more  glorious  than  the  world  had  ever 
yet  witnessed.  We  will,  therefore,  let  the  old  English 
or  Saxon  style  (so  far  as  any  artistic  value  attaches 
to  it)  rest  in  peace,  and  follow  the  fortunes  of  its 
successor.  That  the  architecture,  which  had  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  earlier  been  destroyed  out  of  mere 
barbarism  by  the  forefathers  of  these  same  Normans, 

69 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

had  been  but  a  few  shades  different  from  our  own 
Saxon  seems  probable  from  some  few  traces  of  it  still 
to  be  found  in  Normandy,  as,  for  example,  though 
the  work  of  early  Normans,  the  relics  of  the  early 
chapter-house  of  the  Abbey  of  Jumieges,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Seine  between  Rouen  and  Havre.  Nor  do  we 
know  hoiv  the  more  healthy  manner  of  building  had 
been  introduced  among  the  newly  Christianised 
Northmen ;  though  it  is  probable  that  it  came  to 
them  from  the  more  southern  provinces  of  France. 

However  this  may  be,  we  know  that  their  adopted 
style  was  one  founded  logically  on  reason,  and  on 
true  principles  of  construction  ;  for  not  only  was  this 
the  case  with  the  buildings  erected  in  England  by  its 
Norman  invaders,  but  it  was  equally  so  with  those 
Of  the  same  and  earlier  date  in  Normandy,  and  with 
the  earliest  of  them,  the  Abbey  Church  of  Bernay 
between  Caen  and  Lisieux,  erected  by  the  Duchess 
Judith,  the  grandmother  alike  of  the  Conqueror  and 
his  Queen. 

So  evident  indeed  did  this  fact  become  in  our  own 
country,  even  before  1066,  that  King  Edward  the 
Confessor,  in  rebuilding  the  Abbey  of  Westminster, 
rejected  the  old  style  of  his  country  in  favour  of  the 
newer  architecture  of  Normandy,  so  that  his  building 
was  spoken  of  by  a  subsequent  Norman  chronicler  as 
"  that  church  which  he,  the  first  in  England,  had 
erected  in  that  mode  of  composition  which  now  nearly 
all  emulate."  The  style  is  distinctly  spoken  of  as 
a  "  Novum  genus  compositionis."  After  that  one 
Norman  church  erected  before  the  Battle  of  Hastings 
in  this  new  method  of  composition,  tla-  next  and  the 

70 


C/«THfO*A«.. 


DFTAII.S  f)F    rill':    \N(;i.()-\OR.M.\\    AM)    IK  \\sri  ION    I'l  RIODS. 
To  /ace  />.  70. 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND    TRANSITIONAL 

first  erected  after  that  momentous  event  was  in  all 
probability  that  built  by  Lanfranc,  in  rebuilding 
St  Augustine's  old  cathedral  of  Canterbury. 

Seventy  years  ago  Professor  Willis  traced  out  in  a 
most  interesting  manner  *  the  accordance  in  style, 
plan,  and  even  in  dimensions,  between  this  church 
of  Lanfranc  at  Canterbury,  begun  only  four  years 
after  the  Norman  invasion,  with  the  Abbey  Church  of 
St  Etienne — the  Abbaye  aux  Hommes  referred  to 
just  now — at  Caen,  built  under  the  same  prelate  and 
at  the  expense  of  the  Conqueror,  and  so  completely 
contemporaneously  with  it  that  though  St  Etienne 
was  the  first  begun,  Canterbury  was  the  first  finished ; 

*  "  The  Architectural  History  of  Canterbury  Cathedral,"  (1845)  '• 
now  very  scarce  indeed.  Professor  Willis  always  contrived  to 
make  people  in  love  with  the  sect  of  Peripatetics  :  he  was  thor- 
oughly at  home  on  his  subject,  and  no  teaching  could  be  more 
instructive  than  this  kind  of  learning,  made  easy  on  the  spot. 
Ladies  were  found  to  take  an  interest  in  arcading,  corbels,  and 
string-courses ;  and  anxiety  was  always  expressed  to  be  better 
acquainted  with  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  our  Gothic 
architecture.  The  fever  must  have  been  at  its  height  when,  early 
in  the  'forties  of  the  last  century,  ladies  were  seen  following  the 
professor  through  the  dust  of  the  noble  undercroft  at  Canterbury 
or  threading  the  narrow  stone  staircases  leading  to  the  triforia 
in  the  transepts  of  Ripoii,  and  playing  at  follow  my  leader  among 
the  forests  of  columns  in  such  crypts  as  Worcester  and  Rochester. 

However  great  may  have  been  Willis's  qualifications  for  the 
chair  of  Natural  Philosophy,  he  certainly  was  a  wondroui 
archaeologist,  and  in  the  opinion  of  all  was  a  first-rate  architect 
thrown  away.  He  knew  as  it  were  by  instinct  what  was  hidden 
under  the  soil.  "  Dig  there,"  he  said,  and  the  base  he  wanted 
came  to  light.  "  Open  out  the  earth  here,"  and  the  solid  piece 
of  stone  which  he  had  been  looking  for  to  complete  his  imagin- 
ary plan,  was  straightway  disclosed  to  view.  He  seemed  to  havr 
made  up  his  mind  before  he  entered  a  cathedral  or  an  ancient 
church,  what  he  should  discover ;  and  lo !  there  it  was,  ready  to 
hand 

71 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

and  though  Lanfranc's  work  has  for  the  most  part 
disappeared,  so  much  of  his  church  at  Caen  remains 
as  to  show  us  quite  clearly  what  his  architecture  was, 
and  that  it  was  pretty  closely  identical  with  the  traces 
we  have  of  the  Confessor's  work  at  Westminster,  and 
that  of  William  and  Gundulph  in  the  chapel  of  the 
Tower  of  London. 

So  sound,  so  logical,  and  so  reasonable  is  this  early 
twelfth-century  architecture  that  but  little  essential 
difference  is  perceptible  between  it  and  the  ornate 
Norman  of  half  a  century  later,  nor  the  highly  refined 
form  of  the  same  style  which  immediately  preceded 
the  transition,  when  the  pointed  arch,  arriving  from 
the  Crusades,  came  and  seated  itself  like  a  conqueror 
upon  columns  designed  to  support  only  circular 
arches ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  rude  and  clumsy  as  it 
may  appear  in  this,  its  archaic  stage,  it  apparently 
carried  within  its  rough  envelope  the  germs,  not  only 
of  its  own  growth,  but  of  the  very  transition  itself 
which  so  soon  converted  it  into  the  heaven-aspiring 
Gothic  architecture  of  Salisbury  or  Westminster. 

Romanesque  architecture  in  most  (or  all)  of  the 
countries  where  it  prevailed  had,  by  the  end  of  the 
eleventh  century,  shown  progression  rather  in  per- 
fecting the  workmanship,  refining  the  details,  and 
in  generating  suitable  systems  of  ornamentation,  than 
in  developing  any  new  principles.  The  efforts  of  the 
Romanesque  builders  from  the  beginning  of  the 
twelfth  century  to  refine  and  perfect  their  art  can 
only  be  appreciated  by  those  who  apply  to  the  works 
of  that  period  the  closest  and  most  careful  study.  In 
respect  of  workmanship,  we  find  in  the  course  of  only 

72 


THE    CHOIR,    OXFORD     CATHEDRA], 
(Late  Anglo-Norman.) 


To  face  p.  72. 


ANGLO-NORMAN    AND    TRANSITIONAL 

about  half  a  century  that  the  mere  stone  facing  was 
changed  from  the  coarse  hewing  with  mortar  joints 
of  about  an  inch  in  thickness,  to  the  most  exquisitely 
finished  surface-texture,  such  as  all  the  efforts  of 
modern  builders  cannot  be  brought  to  emulate.  In 
respect  of  profiles  of  mouldings,  we  find,  during  the 
same  interval,  the  great  round  rolls  of  the  Early 
Norman  arches,  and  the  dull  mouldings  of  the  bases 
of  their  pillars,  give  place  to  arch  mouldings  of  the 
most  charming  and  varied  profile,  and  to  base  moulds 
of  attic  type,  and  more  than  attic  beauty  of  section- 
such  as  one  can  never  possibly  examine  without 
fresh  wonder  how  such  exquisite  refinement  could 
have  been  arrived  at,  at  such  a  period ;  while  in 
respect  of  ornamentation,  the  delicacy  was  so  surpris- 
ing as  to  have  outrun  its  mission,  and  to  have  brought 
its  course  to  a  premature  close  by  its  very  excess  of 
intricacy. 

This  breathless  race  after  refinement  evinced  itself 
alike  in  each  country  where  the  Romanesque  style 
prevailed ;  but  it  is  natural  that  the  forms  of  orna- 
mentation followed  should  in  a  greater  or  less  degree 
assume  in  each  its  own  provincial  character.  Thus 
we  have  such  varieties  of  the  Romanesque  as  the 
Pisan  and  the  Lombard  in  Italy;  of  the  Rhine  and 
Saxony  in  Germany ;  of  the  Auvergne,  Perigord, 
Aquitaine,  Burgundy,  and  Normandy  in  France ;  and 
our  own  school,  which  was  pretty  much  alike  all  over 
the  country.  As  this  ceaseless  reaching  forward  after 
perfection  was  the  ripening  for,  and  the  prelude  to, 
the  great  transition  so  soon  to  follow,  it  was  equally 
natural  that  this  change,  though  on  a  broad  view 

73 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

of  the  case  one,  should  on  a  narrower  view  appear 
to  be  multiform ;  that  of  each  country  being 
influenced  by  the  varieties  of  its  own  particular 
form  of  Romanesque. 

The  whole  movement  was,  there  can  be  little  doubt, 
affected  and  stimulated  by  bringing  the  nations  of 
the  Western  Church  together  and  opening  out  to  them 
the  arts  of  that  of  the  East,  as  well  as  those  of  their 
infidel  enemies  by  means  of  the  Crusades ;  yet  while 
this  tended  to  keep  the  art  progress  of  the  Western 
nations  from  wandering  too  widely  apart,  it  did  not 
prevent  the  existence  of  local  and  national  varieties. 

The  one  greatest  element  of  all  in  the  transition 
from  the  round  to  the  pointed  arched  style,  in  what- 
ever country  it  was  being  worked  out,  was  the  pointed 
arch.  This  was  called  for  by  more  causes  than  one. 

The  tendency  of  the  later  Romanesque  was  to 
increased  height;  but,  while  the  columns  could  be 
elongated,  the  round  arch  was  incapable  of  extension. 
An  arch,  therefore,  was  craved  of  elastic  proportions. 

In  vaulting  any  space  but  an  absolute  square  with 
groining,  the  semicircular  vault  could  hardly  be  used 
both  ways,  or  either;  one  would  be  higher  than  the 
other,  or  anyhow,  their  intersecting  line  would  not  be 
in  a  true  plane  for  that  purpose ;  then  an  arch  of 
variable  proportions  was  needed. 

In  arching  over  great  spaces,  such  as  the  naves  of 
churches,  or  in  using  arches  for  the  support  of  great 
weight,  as  those  under  central  towers,  the  round  arch 
was  found  to  be  weak,  and  to  produce  undue  outward 
pressure;  and,  from  this  cause,  an  arch  of  increased 
height  was  demanded.  The  architects  knew  the  form 

74 


• 


ST.    MICHAEL  S,     HILDESHRIM. 


To  face  p.  74. 


s\\    MU IIKI.K.    i.rccA. 
(Examples  of  German    and    Italian    Romanesque.) 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND    TRANSITIONAL 

of  the  pointed  arch.  They  had  met  with  it  in  the 
first  proposition  of  Euclid ;  they  had  seen  or  heard  of 
it  in  the  East ;  their  brethren  had  used  it  in  Sicily, 
and  themselves  in  their  intersecting  arcading.  They 
saw  that  it  met  the  threefold  cravings  of  their  art— 
and  they  adopted  it — first  where  most  demanded,  and 
eventually  from  finding  it  just  what  was  wanted  for 
the  perfecting  of  their  architecture. 

The  result  was  magical.  It  became,  in  the  hands  of 
men  labouring  to  render  their  architecture  expressive 
of  the  ennobling  sentiments  of  religion,  a  means  of 
perfecting  that  solemnity  which  the  Romanesque 
buildings  possess  in  so  wonderful  a  degree,  and  of 
adding  the  most  exalted  sublimity  to  its  hitherto  stern 
and  rugged  grandeur. 

At  first,  however,  it  was  limited  to  the  vaulting  of 
large  spans,  and  to  arches  of  large  width,  or  carrying 
great  weight ;  the  round  arch  remaining  long  in  use 
for  smaller  or  less  important  openings. 

Such  are  the  steps  which  led  up  to  that  interesting 
period  in  the  architecture  of  England,  known  as  the 
'  transitional,"  which  took  place  just  after  the  twelfth 
century  had  passed  its  meridian,  and  with  other  causes 
combined  to  throw  some  of  the  most  refined  metal 
from  the  French  refining  pot  suddenly  into  our 
English  crucible. 

All  architecture,  so  long  as  it  was  a  living  art,  was 
in  reality  "  transitional  "  ;  it  only  ceased  to  be  such 
when  its  vitality  vanished,  as  it  did  at  the  close  of  the 
period  to  which  this  transitional  was  the  introduction. 
Still,  from  our  standpoint,  as  heirs  of  all  the 
centuries,  we  can  note  certain  links  in  the  chain  of  its 

75 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

progress  as  having  been  exceptionally  ' '  transitional  ' 
— more  from  their  relation  to  the  preceding  and 
succeeding  links  than  from  any  intrinsic  peculiarity 
of  their  own.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  the  period  of 
architecture  of  which  this  chapter  treats  has  specially 
obtained  the  above  name,  and  that  its  applicability  to 
it  has  become  recognised,  and  the  term  consequently 
familiar.  Edmund  Sharpe  *  who,  if  not  its  original 
sponsor,  was  its  most  loving  and  devoted  exponent, 
aptly  called  it  "  the  tomb  of  the  Romanesque,  and  the 
cradle  of  the  Gothic." 

While  again  reminding  my  readers  that  all  archi- 
tecture, speaking  of  it  historically  as  a  living  art,  was 
an  unbroken  sequence,  with  but  one  cradle  (Greek) 
and  but  one  tomb  (Renaissance),  I  will  adopt  the 
definition  of  the  learned  writer  just  alluded  to,  so  far 
as  to  allow7  that  the  "  transitional  "  was  the  link  that 
stood  betwreen  the  Romanesque  and  the  Gothic,  and  I 
shall  endeavour  to  make  its  character,  as  such,  and  its 
connection  with  its  predecessor  and  successor,  as  clear 
as  I  can ;  and  therefore  now  proceed  to  point  out 
whence  this  "  transitional  '  arose,  and  whither  it 
tended. 

*  Mr  Sharpe  (d.  1877)  was  one  of  the  earliest,  ablest  and  most 
zealous  pioneers  of  the  English  Gothic  revival.  The  instances 
are  rare  in  which  architects,  at  least  of  seventy  years  ago,  found 
time  for  contributing  to  the  literature  of  their  art  during  a 
professional  practice.  But  both  by  his  books  and  works  Mr 
Sharpe  identified  himself  with  the  cause  of  mediaeval  art,  and  the 
former,  among  which  may  be  named  his  "  Architectural  Parallels  " 
— a  work  illustrating  the  progress  of  ecclesiastical  architecture 
through  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  exercised  a  great 
influence  on  professional  taste  by  drawing  attention  to  older  and 
purer  examples  of  Gothic  than  had  yet  been  imitated. 

76 


AKBKY    CIHKC  II    AT    (.KKNRODK. 
(Saxon   Rom;tne.«.qui>  (if   ihr  'I'cnth   ("oiHiir 


'I'o  face  p.    76. 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND    TRANSITIONAL 

Greece  was  the  cradle  of  refined  systematised 
architecture,  the  elements  of  which  had,  however, 
existed  in  a  state  of  chaos  for  ages  previously  through- 
out the  East.  Grand  and  elaborate  works  had,  it  is 
true,  been  built  before  in  India,  Persia,  Assyria,  and 
Egypt,  but  in  none  of  these  countries  had  any  style 
been  developed  which  the  world  could  accept  as  a 
model  to  work  upon. 

The  purest  and  most  perfect  art  of  its  kind,  though 
not  the  most  original  or  vigorous  the  world  has  seen, 
was  unquestionably  that  of  Greece.  In  its  crucible, 
the  heterogeneous,  unassorted  elements  of  the  Oriental 
world  were  fused  and  refined,  and  they  issued  thence 
in  a  form  systematised  and  adapted  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  time  and  clime  of  that  highly  gifted 
nation,  and  became  an  acknowledged  canon  of  taste 
for  all  ages  to  come. 

The  Romans  added  the  arch  as  their  contribution  to 
the  repertory  of  the  art,  and  spread  their  system  over 
the  whole  of  the  then  known  world,  and  though  it  fell 
into  decay,  together  with  the  empire  itself,  it  lay,  as 
seed  instinct  with  life,  ready  to  burst  forth  under  the 
revivifying  influence  of  a  new  age  and  circumstances, 
and  to  leave,  as  a  husk  behind  it,  the  dress  with  which 
Rome  had  clothed  it.  That  influence  was  in  d,ue  time 
supplied  by  Christianity. 

The  art  of  the  ancient  world  had  been  intellectual, 
and  it  had  dealt  with  the  material.  Its  aim  had  been 
a  comparatively  low  one,  and  within  human  compass. 
This  had  been  achieved  by  the  Greeks  in  a  manner 
approaching  perfection  as  nearly  as  lay  within  the 
power  of  man  to  attain.  But  Christianity  added 

77 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

another  and  yet  higher  aim,  yet  one  far  more  difficult 
to  realise.  It  sought  the  spiritual  in  art,  and  subor- 
dinated to  that  the  intellectual,  which  had  been  the 
final  goal  hitherto,  and  it  found  material  elements  to 
its  hand  in  the  fragments  of  the  ancient  architecture 
freely  strewn  around,  and  strove  to  mould  them  to  its 
own  wider  purposes. 

I  shall  pass  but  lightly  over  this  portion  of  its 
history  to  show  by  it  the  connection  of  the  several 
links  in  the  chain  of  progress ;  my  object  in  doing  so 
being  to  point  out  that  Christian  architecture  has  been 
ever  in  a  state  of  transition  from  its  rise  to  its  close, 
and  that  from  its  nature  it  could  not  have  been 
otherwise. 

It  is  true  that  in  its  infancy  its  steps  were  faltering 
and  slow,  but  they  were  sure,  being  founded  on  right 
principles. 

The  Christians  set  up  the  fallen  columns  and 
entablatures  that  the  Romans  had  used  as  masks  to 
their  structures,  and  for  rational  supports  to  the  walls 
wanted  to  divide  the  naves  from  the  aisles  of  the 
churches  which  they  at  first  built  in  imitation  of  the 
basilicas,  or  halls  of  justice.  As  their  vaulted  con- 
struction became  complicated,  and  they  found  these 
no  longer  suitable,  they  gave  each  weight  its  visible 
support,  and  thus  arrived  at  the  compound  piers,  etc., 
which  embody  the  principle  that  distinguished  their 
architecture  throughout,  and  which  has  been  tersely 
summed  up  thus  :  (  That  every  artifice  of  con- 
struction must  be  displayed." 

Henceforth  architecture  was  ever  in  a  state  of 
transition,  though  for  a  long  period  its  progress  was 

73 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND   TRANSITIONAL 

slow.     Commencing  with   the  fourth   century   from 
the    ruins    of    heathen    basilicge    and    temples,    this 
Christian-Roman    type    was    modified    when    trans- 
planted, with  the  Empire,  to  Byzantium  (A.D.  476), 
by  the  purer  Greek  and  Oriental  influences  lingering 
there.       It    was    not   till    the   time   of    Charlemagne 
(A.D.  768)  that  any  great  movement  took  place,  though 
in  the  intermediate  period,  notwithstanding  political 
troubles,  foundation  was  being  laid  both  in  the  East 
and  West  for  the  time  to  come.     Under  Charlemagne 
the  Empires  were  reunited,  and  the  arts  encouraged, 
and  the  style  of  architecture  known  as  the  Roman- 
esque then  grew  out  of  the  fusion  of  the  Christian- 
Roman  and  the  Byzantine.     This  spread  over  North 
Italy  and  Germany,  along  the  great  highway  of  the 
Rhine,  and  became  the  established  style  throughout 
Christendom ;  though  after  the  death  of  Charlemagne, 
the  arts  somewhat  slumbered  again  till  after  the  year 
1000,  which  men  had  dreaded  as  the  probable  end  of 
the  world,   and  till  the  establishment  of  the  feudal 
system,  in  place  of  the  preceding  anarchy,  seemed  to 
give  them  fresh  opportunity. 

With  the  eleventh  century,  Christendom  awoke  to 
life,  and  a  change  passed  over  the  spirit  of  the  world. 
Feudalism,  with  its  chivalrous  enterprise,  was  the 
established  order  of  things  in  Europe ;  and  the 
Romanesque  style  of  architecture  became  a  worthy 
exponent  of  its  character.  The  conquest  of  England 
was  one  of  the  most  stirring  incidents  of  the  century, 
but  one  quite  in  harmony  with  the  age ;  and  the 
Norman  architecture  which  William  and  his  barons- 
ecclesiastical  and  military — introduced,  was  a  visible 

79 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

embodiment  of  the  spirit  and  circumstances  of  the 
builders.  Stately  and  awe-inspiring  were  the  fabrics 
of  the  Church ;  as  haughty  and  alienated  from  the 
people  were  its  priests. 

The  Chapel  of  the  While  Tower  of  London  has 
a  grave  dignity  in  its  simple  proportions  which 
bespeaks  a  need  for  defence  rather  than  display ;  and 
the  noble  naves  of  Gloucester,  Norwich,  Ely,  Peter- 
borough, Tewkesbury,  and  Durham  impress  us  by 
their  solemnity  and  massive  character,  with  but  small 
aid  from  any  details  of  their  ornament. 

The  twelfth  century,  however,  was  ushered  in 
with  signs  of  a  still  mightier  impetus.  Those  who 
returned  from  the  first  Crusade,  which  Peter  the 
Hermit  had  preached  (A.D.  1096),  brought  back  wider 
views  and  new  ideas.  Then  at  the  close  of  the  reign 
of  Henry  I.  that  great  and  popular  religious  revival 
took  place,  which  shook  the  feudal  society,  already 
weakened  by  internal  discords,  to  its  foundation — the 
institution  of  that  austere  Cistercian  Order  by  St 
Bernard — which  forced  reform  upon  the  Church. 
This  new  zeal  found  vent  largely  in  the  buildings 
required  for  the  numerous  monastic  foundations  which 
then  became  a  rage;  of  these,  twelve  hundred  abbeys 
and  no  fewer  than  three  thousand  dependencies  were 
owned  by  the  Cistercian  Order  alone,  and  the  other 
religious  Orders  emulated  their  example. 

Such  were  the  political  conditions  of  the  period  the 
work  of  which  it  is  the  object  of  this  portion  of  our 
chapter  to  explain. 

In  one  sense,  perhaps,  this  is  not  more  specially 
transitional  than  others  in  the  history  of  architecture 

80 


TJIK    NAVK,    SI-NS   I  ATHKDKAL. 
(Transitional  stylr  of  France,  c.    n^ 


Ti>  face  p.  So. 


ANGLO-NORMAN    AND    TRANSITIONAL 

and  art,  but  yet  one  that  has  not  without  good  reason 
obtained  the  recognised  special  title  of  the  "  transi- 
tion," in  that  it  marks  the  point  of  divergence  between 
ancient  feudalism  and  modern  progress,  between 
tyranny  and  liberalism;  and,  in  architectural  detail, 
between  the  use  of  the  round  and  of  the  pointed  arch, 
between  the  prevalence  of  sturdy  simplicity  and 
elegant  elaboration  and  splendour  of  detail,  between 
surface  ornament,  basking  in  light,  and  recessed, 
shrinking  into  shadow.  In  brief,  it  was  the  link 
between  the  old  and  the  new  civilisation  of  Europe. 

The  period  of  the  "  transition  '  may  be  said 
broadly  to  occupy  the  latter  half  of  the  twelfth  century 
(1145-1190),  and  the  reigns  of  our  Angevine  Kings, 
the  Plantagenets,  viz.  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  II.  and  Richard  I. 

It  was  not  the  invention  of  any  one  mind,  nor  an 
importation  from  any  foreign  country,  but  the  gradual 
work  of  many  minds  and  of  more  than  one  generation, 
assisted  by  hints  and  ideas  taken  from  many  different 
sources  and  different  countries,  with  which  the 
people  had  the  opportunity  of  friendly  intercourse. 
The  history  of  the  change  is  more  traced  in  the  choir 
of  Canterbury  Cathedral  than  in  any  other  building, 
with  the  help  of  the  contemporary  records  of  Edmer 
and  Gervase,  translated  and  applied  by  Professor 
Willis.  The  corona,  or  eastern  chapel  of  this 
cathedral,  the  work  of  William  the  Englishman,  is 
so  much  in  advance  of  the  work  of  William  of  Sens, 
that  the  chief  merit  belongs  to  the  pupil  who  had 
greatly  improved  upon  his  master.  The  Cathedral 
of  Sens  greatly  resembles  the  choir,  eastern  transepts, 

81  F 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

and  Trinity  Chapel  of  Canterbury,  but  not  the 
corona.  There  are  grounds  for  believing  that  Sens 
Cathedral  is  later  than  Canterbury,  it  having  been 
rebuilt  or  greatly  altered  after  a  lire  in  1184,  the  year 
that  Canterbury  was  finished.  Other  buildings  in 
France  are  in  advance  of  Sens,  such  as  the  south 
transept  of  Soissons  Cathedral,  the  west  front  of  St 
Denis,  and  especially  the  hall  and  chapel  at  Angers, 
built  by  our  Henry  II.,  who  frequently  held  his  Court 
there,  while  this  work  was  going  on  ;  and  to  these 
meetings  of  the  leading  men  of  the  north  and  south  in 
friendly  intercourse,  may  be  attributed  considerable 
influence  on  the  rapid  progress  of  architecture. 
In  the  southern  and  south-western  provinces  of 
France,  they  had  pointed  arches  and  domical  vaults 
over  large  spaces,  and  an  excellent  school  of  sculptors, 
half  a  century  before  they  had  these  in  the  north.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  northern  people  had  attained  to 
much  greater  elevation  in  their  buildings,  and  greater 
length  in  their  ground-plans,  so  that  each  had  what 
the  others  wanted.  The  Byzantine  domes  in  Peri- 
gord,  and  the  pointed  vaults  of  Anjou,  Poitou  and 
Provence  had  considerable  influence  on  the  develop- 
ment of  the  style. 

The  churches  built  by  the  Crusaders  in  Palestine 
have  pointed  arches,  but  no  Gothic  details,  and  are 
almost  exactly  like  the  churches  in  the  west  of 
France  at  the  same  period.  The  present  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem  was  founded  by 
Fulke,  Count  of  Anjou,  in  1140. 

But  all  these  influences  were  indirect,  and  subor- 
dinate to  the  natural  development  which  took  place 

82 


u  ,t 

>  ~ 


ANGLO-NORMAN    AND    TRANSITIONAL 

in  England.  The  change  of  style  had  begun  at  an 
earlier  period,  and  although  the  general  use  of  the 
pointed  arch  was  a  matter  of  fashion,  its  introduction 
was  primarily  owing  to  the  necessities  of  vaulting. 
It  is  recorded  that  three  Greek  noblemen  from 
Byzantium  were  present  at  the  consecration  of 
St  Bartholomew's,  Smithfield,  and  they  were  probably 
consulted  by  the  founder  as  to  the  plan  of  the  church. 
The  vaulting  of  the  aisles  is  peculiar,  and  the  vaulting 
of  the  central  space  seems  to  have  been  part  of  the 
original  design,  though  not  carried  out  by  the  founder ; 
if  so,  it  is  the  earliest  instance  of  this  idea  being 
formed. 

The  round  churches  of  the  Templars  had  probably 
some  influence  in  giving  new  ideas.  Build  was  Abbey 
and  the  Church  of  St  Cross  at  Winchester  present 
instances  of  pointed  arches  before  1150.  After  the 
completion  of  the  choir  of  Canterbury  Cathedral  in 
1184,  the  progress  of  the  new  style  was  very  rapid. 
The  hall  of  Oakham  Castle,  and  the  galilee  of  Durham 
Cathedral — where  although  the  arches  are  round  the 
pillars  are  slender — are  good  examples  of  late  transi- 
tion about  the  same  date.  Before  1200  the  Early 
English  Gothic  was  fully  established.  In  most  parts 
of  the  Continent  it  was  later,  but  the  stamp  of  each 
century,  and  especially  of  the  thirteenth,  is  distinctly 
visible  everywhere,  even  where  the  round  arch  was 
continued,  as,  for  instance,  in  Germany. 

The  Greek  Doric  order  of  the  trabeate  construction 
as  perfected  in  the  Parthenon  set  the  course  for  archi- 
tectural proportion,  and  was  suited  for  its  place  and 
purpose.  But  Christian  architects,  for  other  purposes 

83 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

and  places,  did  well  to  deal  as  they  did  freely  with 
this  type  of  column  and  supports.  They  adopted  the 
Roman  arch  instead  of  the  Greek  entablature,  and 
altered  the  proportions  of  the  column  so  that  in  the 
sturdy  Norman  we  find  it  often  but  two  or  three 
diameters  high,  and  in  what  may  be  called  the 
weedy  Perpendicular  its  shafts  are  as  "  linked  sweet- 
ness long  drawn  out."  In  short,  they  subjected  their 
ancient  precedents  wholly  to  plain  common  sense, 
and  used  them  as  they  needed. 

Breadth,  horizontality,  and  repose,  had  been  the 
essential  characteristics  of  Classic  architecture,  and 
remained  so  to  a  great  extent  until  this  epoch  of 
the  "  transitional."  The  characteristics  of  the  Gothic 
architecture  to  which  that  style  was  the  portal,  and 
which  was  the  logical  result  of  the  common-sense 
principles  followed  by  the  Christian  architects,  were, 
on  the  contrary,  subdivision,  verticality,  and  aspiring 
energy.  The  period  of  the  transition  was  that  of  the 
struggle  between  these  opposite  tendencies. 

There  are  five  points  of  essential  difference  between 
Classic  and  Gothic  architecture,  which  it  may  be  as 
well  to  recapitulate  as  the  details  of  the  struggle  upon 
this  transitional  battle-ground. 

T.  In  Gothic  architecture,  as  opposed  to  classical, 
the  arch  is  essential,  the  entablature  not,  and  the 
columns  support  arches  instead  of  entablatures. 

2.  There  are  any  number  of  planes  of  decoration, 
one  behind  another,  leading  with  several  arches  under 
one,   to   tracery;   and   with   arches  of  different  forms 
under  another,  to  foliation. 

3.  The  weights  are  divided  into  as  many  parts  as 

84 


SAN  PAOI.O   A   RII'A,    PISA. 


To  face  p. 


STA    .MARIA   MAfXilORK,    TOSCAXKLI.A. 
(Examples  of  the  later  Romanesque  of  Italy.) 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND   TRANSITIONAL 

possible,  and  these  are  given  to  independent  supports, 
whence  compound  piers  and  clustered  pillars  result. 

4.  The  diagonal  pressures  of  the  arch  are  conspicu- 
ously displayed  whence  come  buttresses  and  pinnacles. 

5.  The    dominant    lines    are    vertical    instead    of 
horizontal. 

The  gradual  establishment  of  these  new  principles 
in  the  early  Christian  Roman  works  had  always  to 
struggle  in  Italy  (the  fountain-head  of  Classic)  with 
strong  local  influences,  and  were  never  able  wholly  to 
assert  themselves  as  they  did  ultimately  north  of  the 
Alps.  Transferred  for  a  time  to  Byzantium,  and 
thence  to  Ravenna,  they  combined  there  with  strong 
original  Greek  and  Oriental  influences.  In  the 
former  case  the  Latin  cross  plan,  the  basilican 
arrangement  of  nave  and  aisles,  the  wooden  roof,  and 
Roman  round-edged  type  of  foliage,  were  followed. 
In  the  other,  the  Greek  cross  plan,  domed  vaults,  and 
sharp-pointed  Greek  type  of  the  acanthus  foliage 
prevailed. 

But  the  Romanesque  developed  from  both  these 
styles,  united  distinct  features  of  each,  and  noble 
buildings  arose  in  and  after  the  time  of  Charlemagne, 
throughout  Lombardy  and  Germany,  having  the 
Latin  cross  plan,  with  nave  and  aisles,  with  Byzantine 
apses,  with  semi-domes,  and  vaulted  roofs.  In  these 
the  new  principles  were  carried  farther,  as  the 
requirements  of  the  vaultings  to  the  compartments  of 
naves  and  aisles  demanded,  to  the  limited  extent  that 
the  retention  of  the  round  arch  permitted. 

The  Romanesque  did  not  spread  to  France  till 
shortly  before  the  time  of  the  Conquest  of  England, 

85 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

when  Byzantine  feeling  had  diminished.  Few  build- 
ings in  that  country  claim  higher  antiquity  than  the 
early  part  of  the  eleventh  century,  when  Rollo,  in 
Normandy,  helped  to  build  Notre-Dame,  Rouen,  and 
Other  great  churches  elsewhere.  The  two  abbeys  at 
Caen — St  Etienne,  founded  by  William  the  Con- 
queror, and  La  Trinite,  by  his  wife,  Matilda — were 
completed  the  one  just  before,  and  the  other  after  the 
Conquest ;  Jumieges  was  founded  in  1067 ;  and  St 
George  de  Boscherville  ten  years  earlier.  Thence 
the  Romanesque  was  imported  to  England,  where  it 
was  wrought  out  with  so  distinct  and  original  a 
character,  as  almost  to  form  a  style  of  itself,  nearly 
free  from  all  Byzantine  influence,  even  its  Roman 
origin  being  difficult  to  trace;  it  became,  as  it  were, 
a  self-contained  and  distinct  style  of  which  we  may 
be  proud. 

The  distinctive  features  of  the  details  of  Roman- 
esque as  needed  for  our  present  purpose  of  comparison 
with  transitional,  may,  then,  be  briefly  enumerated 
thus  : 

In  Germany,  where  it  was  purest,  as  nearest  its 
sources,  and  grandest  in  conception,  though  not  most 
beautiful  in  detail,  numerous  towers  compose  splendid 
groupings ;  its  naves  as  well  as  its  aisles  were  vaulted, 
the  piers  were  large  and  plain  ;  cylindrical  shafts  were 
not  used.  The  arches  were,  of  course,  round  only. 
Transepts  occur  at  both  ends  of  the  church ;  often 
there  is  an  apse  between  the  two  western  transepts, 
and  the  eastern  pair  of  transepts  is  also  apsidal. 
Compared  with  the  English  the  doorways  and  pier 
arches  are  plain.  The  simple  zigzag  arid  triple  billet 

86 


ANGLO-NORMAN    AND    TRANSITIONAL 

alone,  out  of  the  vast  variety  of  English  ornaments  of 
the  class  were  freely  used,  and  in  the  shape  of 
windows  many  strange  forms  occurred,  such  as  arches 
fringed  with  rudimental  cuspings  of  an  Oriental 
character,  while  others  resembled  in  shape  the  ace  of 
clubs. 

In  France,  the  simple  basilican  type  with  the  nave 
and  aisles  prevailed,  with  only  an  eastern  semicircular 
apse.  There  were  central  towers,  and  often  two  at 
the  west  end.  Among  its  ornaments  we  find  the 
zigzag,  billet,  chevron,  nail-head,  cable,  fret,  etc., 
together  with  sculpture  of  a  Byzantine  character,  in 
which  the  Corinthian  capital  was  imitated,  but  with 
Greek,  rather  than  Roman,  foliage.  Slight  pro- 
jections, recalling  antique  pilasters,  were  the  only 
buttresses.  The  masonry  was  rude,  its  joints  large, 
its  stones  square  and  axe-faced.  It  had  large  circular 
single  pillars,  but  later  square  pillars  with  shafts 
attached.  The  naves  were  wooden  roofed  with  flat 
ceilings;  but  the  aisles  were  vaulted. 

In  England  the  Early  Norman  was  still  more 
massive  than  in  France,  though  the  later  Norman 
was  much  lighter  than  these  (as  in  the  galilee  of 
Durham  Cathedral).  The  great  cylindrical  pillars 
were  relieved  with  zigzag  and  other  groovings,  as  at 
Durham,  Lindisfarne,  Selby,  and  Waltham.  It  was 
often  most  richly  ornamented,  sometimes  with  rude, 
vigorous,  grotesque  carvings,  as  at  Kilpeck,  in 
Herefordshire,  with  a  profusion  of  various  simple 
ornaments,  but  at  others  with  exceedingly  delicate  and 
.beautiful  work  resembling  that  in  France,  supposed 
to  be  derived  from  Byzantium ;  like  jewellery  with 

37 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

pearled  bands,  of  which  there  are  good  examples  at 
Barfreston  and  Patrixbourne  in  Kent. 

In  comparison  with  "  transitional,"  the  windows, 
round-headed  in  both,  are  in  Norman  low  and  broad ; 
the  pier  arches  plain  and  square-edged,  or  with  heavy 
rolls  on  the  edges  of  one  or  more  of  the  windows  of  the 
arch.  The  capitals,  in  early  Norman,  are  after  a  very 
rude  Corinthian  type,  and  fhe  later  Norman  equally 
primitive  upon  the  Doric  tyge,  which  has  become 
known  as  the  cushion  capital. 

In  north-eastern  France,  where  the  intermediate 
steps  by  which  the  first  pointed  style  attained  its 
complete  development  are  to  be  traced  only  by  an 
occasional  and  indiscriminate  mixture  of  the  circular 
and  pointed  arch,  the  mouldings  of  these,  the  section 
of  the  abacus  and  decoration  of  the  capital  under- 
going, for  the  most  part,  no  transformation.  This 
transitional  epoch  possesses  little  interest  compared 
with  that  excited  by  its  development  with  us,  and  has 
absolutely  no  claim  to  a  distinct  consideration. 

On  overstepping,  however,  the  boundaries  of  this 
province,  whether  in  the  direction  of  the  lie  de  France, 
or  the  Orleannois,  and  from  them  into  Champagne, 
Touraine,  and  Poitau,  we  discover  abundant  evidences 
of  a  mighty  change  in  the  spirit  of  architectural 
creations.  We  discover  a  class  of  buildings  which 
lead  us,  by  progressive  and  almost  insensible  grada- 
tions, from  the  first  incomplete  perception  of  a  new 
principle  of  beauty  disclosed  in  the  pointed  arch,  to  a 
system  so  full  of  harmony,  of  splendour,  and  of  grace, 
that  were  we  not  familiarised  with  the  stupendous 
works  the  art  was  still  destined  to  accomplish,  we 

88 


NOTRE    DAME,    CLERMONT-FERRAND. 

(Romanesque   of  Auvergne.) 


To  •face  p. 


\VESTKKN    1>OR(  II,    ATTTX    (  A  II I  l-:i  >K  A  I. 
(Romanesque    of    Burgundy.) 


ANGLO-NORMAN    AND    TRANSITIONAL 

might  well  believe  her  to  have  attained  her  utmost 
limits,  and  pronounce  her  incapable  of  sublimer  efforts 
than  these  her  first  essays. 

Such  buildings  as  the  choir  of  Poitiers  Cathedral, 
Sens  Cathedral,  and  "  the  round  "  of  our  Temple 
Church,  are  distinguished  by  the  almost  universal  use 
of  windows,  still  round-headed,  but  drawn  upwards 
into  lengthened  and  more  graceful  proportions,  by 
pointed  vaulting  in  all,  and  in  many  of  them  by  a 
peculiar  eight-celled  domical  ribbed  roof,  doorways 
indifferently  circular  or  pointed,  enriched  with  a 
profusion  of  statues  in  the  sides,  and  small  sculpture 
in  the  arch  mouldings ;  a  characteristic  capital  of 
uncommon  beauty  of  design,  of  fantastic  foliage  where 
this  is  not  displaced  by  small  figures ;  constant  invari- 
able mouldings  of  pier  arches ;  west  fronts  broken  into 
an  infinity  of  minute  particles,  and  niches  occupied 
by  statuary ;  a  lavish  use  of  cornices  on  the  inside  as 
well  as  externally;  of  light  and  elegant  sections, 
supported  by  corbels  of  inexhaustible  variety  and 
great  delicacy  of  workmanship ;  an  almost  entire 
absence  of  the  ornaments  of  the  first  Romanesque  era, 
and  in  most  cases  some  peculiarity  in  the  plan  of  the 
church. 

Of  the  carved  work  in  France  there  is  great  variety 
and  character  in  that  of  the  different  provinces, 
betraying  Byzantine  and  Oriental  influences,  the  latter 
doubtless  through  the  means  of  the  crusades.  These 
were  all  of  a  conventional  character,  and  not  of  the 
original  nature  of  that  of  England,  which  was 
developed  from  the  Norman  and  a  study  of  natural 
foliage.  There  was,  however,  a  profusion  of  sculpture 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

In  France  of  a  highly  conventional  character,  both  in 
figure  and  costume,  also  undoubtedly  derived  from  a 
Byzantine  source — apparently  imported  paintings. 

The  style  in  Germany,  analogous  to  and  partly 
contemporary  with  the  transitional  of  France  and 
England,  can  hardly  lay  claim  to  that  title,  seeing  that 
it  never  lost  its  round-arched  character  until  quite  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  no  style  correspond- 
ing to  our  pure  Early  English  forming  the  natural 
sequence.  Some  of  the  special  peculiarities  of  this 
epoch  of  German  architecture  are  due  to  the  fact  that 
vaulting  large  spaces  was  practised  in  Germany  at  an 
early  date.  Having  vaulted  the  aisles  during  the 
Romanesque  period,  it  was  then  attempted  to  vault 
the  naves  also,  but  in  doing  this  difficulties  arose, 
since  semicircular  arches  would  only  accommodate 
themselves  to  the  covering  of  square  compart- 
ments. Consequently  it  compelled  the  naves  to  be 
double  the  width  of  the  aisles,  and  the  alternate  piers 
only  carried  the  nave  vaulting.  These  piers  were 
distinguished  by  greater  bulk  than  the  intermediate 
ones,  i.e.  those  carrying  the  arches  (arranged  in 
pairs)  which  opened  to  the  aisles,  which  had  only  to 
bear  their  share  in  supporting  the  aisle  vaultings. 

The  light  from  the  small  windows  of  the  early 
Romanesque  churches  being  found  insufficient,  larger 
clerestory  windows  were  introduced.  In  place  of  the 
single  window,  which  before  occupied  the  centre  of 
each  compartment,  two  were,  later  in  that  style, 
introduced,  and  placed  near  each  other  in  pairs,  so  as 
to  reach  the  central  higher  part  of  the  arch. 

These  difficulties  and  limitations  were  found  to  be 

90 


ABBKY    CHURCH    OJ/     LAAC1I. 
(Rhenish    Romanesque.) 


To  face  p.  90. 


ANGLO-NORMAN    AND    TRANSITIONAL 

overcome  by  the  use  of  the  pointed  arch,  which  enabled 
the  breadth  of  the  central  division  of  the  church  to  be 
no  longer  necessarily  double  that  of  the  aisles,  and  to 
be  oblong  in  shape  instead  of  square ;  usually  the  arch 
crossing  the  nave  at  the  intervals  of  the  vaulting  was 
the  pointed  one,  and  those  spanning  the  clerestory 
windows  or  wall  ribs  remained  semicircular.  Next, 
both  these  became  pointed,  allowing  any  proportion 
of  breadth  and  length.  Sex-partite  vaulting — a  com- 
partment divided  into  six  cells  by  the  ribs — only 
possible  with  pointed  arches,  became  common,  with 
octo-partite  or  eight-celled  vaulting  at  the  intersection 
of  the  four  arms  of  the  church,  and  a  German 
peculiarity  of  transitional  vaulting  was  its  usual 
domical  treatment,  arising  from  the  diagonal  ribs 
rising  higher  than  the  transverse  and  wall  ribs ;  while 
an  ugly  variety  of  a  domical  vault,  with  face  ribs,  is 
frequently  to  be  met  with. 

As  to  plan,  whereas  the  Romanesque  apse  had  been 
circular,  in  the  transitional  it  was  usually  polygonal ; 
or  the  two  were  combined  in  the  same  church  as  in  the 
minster  at  Bonn.  We  find  apses  and  towers  at  both 
east  and  west  ends,*  combined  with  octagonal  cupolas 
or  pyramids,  and  the  termination  of  the  towers  with 
gables  on  each  face  and  a  short  square,  or  octagonal 
spire  above  is  peculiar  to  Germany,  though  a  few 
small  examples  exist  in  England. f 

The  triforium  was  during  this  period  developed 
from  a  plain  blank  awkward  wall  space  occasionally 

*  As  at  Laach  Abbey,  and  the  Cathedrals  at  Mayence  and 
Worms. 

f  A  well-known  example  is  the  tower  of  Sompting  Church,  near 
Worthing. 

91 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

left  between  the  pier  arch  and  the  clerestory  in 
Romanesque  churches,  into  a  fine  large  open  gallery, 
forming  a  second  story  to  the  side  aisles,  and  used  as 
such.*  This  gallery  finds  its  counterpart  in  the  great 
French  transitional  churches  of  Notre-Dame,  Paris, 
Mantes,  Noyon,  Soissons  (south  transept),  Senlis, 
and  Laon. 

The  clerestory  was  enlarged,  and  filled  with  large 
windows,  sometimes  in  triplets,  and  others  in  the 
curious  local  fan-shaped  openings.  Buttresses  of 
small  projection,  with  plain  cappings,  also  made  their 
appearance.  From  these  details  it  will  be  seen  that 
German  architecture  of  the  second  half  of  the  twelfth 
century  and  the  first  quarter  of  the  thirteenth  never 
attained  the  unity  and  the  harmony  remarkable  in  the 
contemporary  work  in  France ;  it  was  marred  by  many 
features  more  curious  than  beautiful ;  and  though 
often  exceedingly  grandiose,  was  deficient  in  that 
refinement  which  is  so  conspicuous  in  the  "  transi- 
tional "  or  Plantagenet  architecture  in  England. 

The  introduction  of  the  pointed  arch  in  Germany 
was  by  no  means  at  once  accompanied  by  all  the  other 
changes  which  distinguished  the  Gothic  from  the 
Romanesque.  The  old  forms  and  tendencies  lingered 
long,  and  were  replaced  gradually,  and  the  architec- 
ture of  the  period  named  above  offers  an  image  of  the 
conflict  and  indecision  of  a  revolution  which  is  to 
end  in  replacing  the  prevailing  principles  by  their 

*  Examples  of  this  occur  chiefly  in  churches  on  or  near  the 
Rhine  as,  e.g.  St  Ouirimis  at  Xeuss  the  church  at  Wcrclen  ;  the 
Liebfrau  Kirche  at  Coblentz ;  at  Sinzii^,  Andernach  and  Boppart ; 
and  in  the  cathedra!  at  Limbing  on  the  Lahn. 

92 


\\YI-;    OK   THK    CIHRC  II    AT    BOl'I'ARi. 

( Rli(.'ni>h    style  of  the   Thirti-enth    Centurv.) 


To  face  p.  92. 


ANGLO-NORMAN    AND    TRANSITIONAL 

opposites.  It  is  apparent,  therefore,  that  while  in 
other  countries  the  Romanesque  features  gradually 
faded  away  before  the  new  style  of  architecture 
Germany  as  a  whole,  but  particularly  her  Rhenish 
provinces,  clung  to  them  to  the  last,  and  abandoned 
them  with  manifest  reluctance;  as  if  that  mighty 
river,  that  bore  the  tide  of  human  civilisation  into 
the  heart  of  Europe,  had  infused  into  the  nations 
through  which  it  flowed  a  veneration  for  Roman 
memorials ;  with  a  wish  to  preserve  and  perpetuate 
them,  by  establishing,  according  to  the  principles  of 
their  construction,  a  kindred  and  lasting  style  of  their 
own. 

The  transitional  style  in  England  must  yield  to  that 
of  the  Continent  as  to  priority ;  yet,  like  its  pre- 
decessor, the  Anglo-Norman,  and  its  successor,  the 
Early  English,  it  arrived  at  a  higher  state  of  refinement 
and  completeness  of  character  than  its  contemporary 
style  in  either  Germany  or  France.  It  was  free  from 
the  quaintness,  bordering  on  the  coarse  or  grotesque, 
which  the  one  indulged  in,  and  the  want  of  consistency 
which  the  other  showed,  from  the  retention  of  many 
scarcely  disguised  Classic  features,  together  with  the 
introduction  of  others  of  prematurely  developed 
Gothic.  The  English  transitional  is  more  self- 
contained  and  harmonious  than  either.  It  is  no 
longer  stern  and  forbidding,  as  was  the  Early  Norman 
such  as  we  see  in  parts  of  the  cathedral  at  St  Albans. 
It  is  no  longer  ponderous  and  plain,  on  the  other  hand 
it  is  not  so  light  or  so  graceful  as  the  Early  English. 
It  unites,  happily,  the  best  qualities  of  the  art;  and 
though  it  would  have  been  undesirable,  as  well  as 

93 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

impossible,  to  have  arrested  the  tide  of  architectural 
progress  at  that  stage,  we  may  and  should  look  back 
to  it  with  keen  admiration,  and  give  it  our  earnest 
study. 

The  round  arch  still  prevails  in  the  windows  and 
doors  as  in  Norman,  but  the  windows  are  higher  and 
their  shafts  slenderer,  as  in  the  choir  of  Canterbury 
and  the  circular  portion  of  the  Temple  Church.  The 
buttresses  and  base  course  project  more,  and  in  late 
examples  have  sets-off  and  pyramidal  cappings ;  the 
walls  are  thinner  and  the  masonry  finer.  Moulded 
cornices  are  carried  on  corbels  of  uniform  profile, 
and  the  parapets  have  sloped  copings.  Generally 
increased  lightness  pervades  all  parts  of  the  building. 
Within,  the  heavy  cylindrical  columns  give  place  to 
piers  of  a  lighter  mass  of  semicircular  shafts  and 
square  edges ;  or  slenderer  circular  and  octagonal 
piers,  alternate,  as  in  the  choir  of  Canterbury,  some- 
times they  are  formed  of  a  cylinder  with  four  slender 
shafts  grouped  round  it,  as  in  the  circular  portion  of 
the  Temple  Church  in  London,  and  occasionally  we 
find  a  shaft  with  pear-shaped  section.  The  capitals 
still  have  square  blocks  moulded  down  to  the  circular 
form  below,  the  lower  part  being  hollowed  to  the 
circle,  instead  of  being  full  and  round,  as  in  Norman. 
Frequently  they  have  small  volutes,  forming  the 
curled  end  of  a  plain  leaf  encircling  the  ball.  The 
abacus  is  square,  and  its  upper  edge  square  in  section 
till  late  in  the  style,  when  greater  freedom  obtained. 
The  cushion  capital  is  subdivided  witli  intervening 
leaves,  and  the  small  cushions  become  more  and  more 
detached,  and  at  last  by  successive  stages  of  en  rich - 

94 


ANGLO-NORMAN    AND    TRANSITIONAL 

ment  become  balls  of  stiff  conventional  foliage  peculiar 
to  English  work,  and  leading  by  easy  gradation  to 
the  beautiful  Early  English  foliage.  About  1175  tne 
importation  of  French  influence,  through  the  employ- 
ment of  William  of  Sens  at  Canterbury,*  led  to 
considerable  modifications,  and  the  capitals  began  to 
assume  the  Corinthian  type  as  in  France,  and  the 
French  projecting  horn  (crochet)  takes  the  place  of, 
or  is  set  beside,  the  other  types  described. 

The  pointed  arch  makes  its  first  appearance  in  the 
earlier  buildings  in  arches  of  construction  only,  as 
pier  arches,  or  those  supporting  the  central  tower, 
the  circular  form  being  retained  for  arches  of 
decoration,  but  later  it  is  used  for  them  also,  particu- 
larly for  clerestory  windows,  which  naturally  were 
the  last  built. 

The  pier  arches  are  therefore  generally  pointed,  at 
first  obtusely,  and  later,  acutely ;  the  mouldings  are 
few  and  plain,  but  lighter  (usually  a  roll  or  pear- 
shaped  at  the  angle  of  each  shoulder  of  the  arch) ,  and 
still  maintaining  the  general  square  section  of  the 
soffit,  whereas  in  Gothic  it  becomes  angular. 

There  is  often  no  hood  moulding.  The  usual  orna- 
ments of  the  previous  Norman  disappear,  except  the 
chevron  occasionally ;  and  in  later  examples  the  dog- 
tooth appears.  The  vaulting  shaft  has  generally  the 
elliptical  section,  giving  it  great  refinement. 

Plain  pointed  quadri-partite  vaulting  sometimes 
covers  the  aisles  and  occasionally  the  nave,  even  with 

*  Some  account  of  this  great  work  will  be  found  in  the  succeed- 
ing chapter,  in  which  the  elongation  of  the  cathedral  choir  at 
different  periods  is  considered. 

95 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

circular-headed  windows  beneath  the  acutely  pointed 
wall  ribs. 

The  most  characteristic  of  the  works  of  this  epoch  in 
England  were  the  abbeys  built  by  the  Cistercian  Order 
of  monks,  to  whom  was  due  that  religious  revival  in 
the  early  part  of  the  twelfth  century  to  which  reference 
has  already  been  made.  I  allude  to  such  churches  as 
Fountains,  Furness,  Roche,  Byland,  Jervaulx  and 
Abbey  Dore. 

The  whole  of  the  foundations  of  these  buildings  were 
laid  out  upon  one  general  plan  at  this  period.  They 
were  all  dedicated  to  the  Virgin  Mary-,  and  built  in  the 
most  secluded  sites  that  could  be  found,  in  the  form 
of  the  Latin  cross — in  England  with  short  choirs 
generally  of  but  two  compartments.  The  east  ends 
were  square,  in  contrast  to  the  Continental  fashion, 
such  as  we  see  in  that  typical  French  Cistercian  church 
at  Pontigny,  and  in  Germany  at  Altenberg,  Doberan, 
Chorin,  and  that  solitary  remnant — the  apse — of  what 
must  have  been  the  most  perfect  example  of  a  German 
Cistercian  church,  Heisterbach.  Most  churches  of 
this  order  in  Germany  were  like  those  of  England, 
square-ended,  with  a  rectangular  sanctuary  and  two 
or  more  oblong  chapels  opening  from  the  eastern  side 
of  either  transept  as  at  Arnsberg,  Eberbrach,  Ebracli, 
Heiligkreuz,  Lilienfeld,  Loccum,  Maulbronn,  Pelp- 
lin,  Riddagshausen  and  Wettingen.* 

In  England,  the  transepts  of  the  Cistercian  churches 
were  aisleless,  but  had  two  or  three  apsidal  chapels  on 
their  eastern  sides  ;  there  were  no  lofty  towers  till  a 

*  There  is  a  very  perfect  example  of  a   brick   Cistercian  church 
at  Soro,  iti  the  Danish  island  of  /A  aland. 

96 


THH     RKTROCHOIR,     CHIC  HliSTKR    CATHKDRAL. 


Mil 


CISTF.KCIAX    CIIfRC-H    AT    SORO,    ni-XMARK    (c.     Il6o). 
To  face  p.  96. 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND   TRANSITIONAL 

later  date — when  that  severity  with  which  St  Bernard 
had  inspired  the  Order  was  relaxed.  No  figure  carving 
was  permitted  in  them,  and  the  stained  glass  was  to 
be  in  patterns  only,  the  finest  and  most  perfect 
examples  of  this  kind  of  decoration  being  extant  at 
Altenberg  near  Cologne.  In  fact,  there  was  a  general 
restraint  in  matters  of  ornament. 

Cistercian  architecture  was  severely  simple  and 
practical,  yet  excellent,  and  even  elegant,  but  always 
dignified  in  proportion,  and  neither  rude  nor  clumsy, 
nor  frivolous  and  flimsy. 

As  an  example  of  the  architecture  of  this  period,  the 
last  ten  years  of  the  twelfth  century  we  cannot  do 
better  than  take  the  two  eastern  bays  of  the  choir  of 
Chichester  Cathedral. 

The  episcopate  of  Bishop  Self  rid  1180-1204  is  the 
most  important  epoch  in  the  early  history  of  that 
cathedral.  He  saw  it  almost  destroyed  by  fire  in  1187, 
but  he  lived  to  rejoice  over  the  reconstruction  which 
he  devoted  all  his  resources  and  energies  to  accomplish. 
The  restoration  executed  under  Bishop  Seffrid  is  an 
admirable  specimen  of  that  masterly  skill  in  repairing 
and  recasting  old  damaged  work,  and  of  that  genius  in 
designing  new  forms  with  which  mediaeval  builders 
were  so  eminently  gifted.  At  Chichester  the  roofs 
as  in  most  Norman  churches  were  wooden  ;  when  these 
caught  fire  from  the  carelessness  of  the  plumbers  in 
repairing  the  lead  work,  the  upper  portions  of  the  in- 
side walls  were  of  course  scorched  and  damaged  by  the 
burning  timbers  hanging  against  them,  and  when 
the  beams  and  rafters  dropped  on  the  floor  and 
remained  blazing  there,  the  lower  parts  of  the  columns 

97  ° 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

would  be  injured  in  like  manner ;  the  intermediate 
portions  suffered  least,  though  the  string-courses  and 
edges  of  the  arches  would  here  and  there  be  chipped 
by  the  fall  of  the  timbers.  The  greatest  mischief 
would  naturally  be  done  in  the  eastern  parts  of  the 
building,  where  the  stallwork  and  other  wooden 
fittings  supplied  so  much  fuel  for  the  fire.  The 
structural  changes  at  Chichester  under  Bishop  Seffrid, 
as  they  may  be  traced  at  the  present  day  in  his 
cathedral,  exactly  corroborate  this  theory. 

The  triforium  being  little  if  at  all  damaged,  was 
left  unaltered,  but  the  clerestory,  being  nearer  the 
roof  where  the  fire  broke  out,  had  to  be  recast.  It 
consists  of  a  triple  arcade  supported  on  single  shafts 
of  Purbeck  marble ;  the  central  arch  enclosing  the 
window  is  round,  but  the  two  blind  arches  are  pointed  ; 
the  abacus  of  each  of  the  corner  shafts  is  square,  while 
the  abacus  of  the  central  shafts  is  round  ;  variations 
which  prove  that  this  work  belongs  to  the  transitional 
period  between  Norman  and  Early  English.  Stone 
vaulting  was  substituted  for  the  old  wooden  roofs  of 
nave  and  aisles,  and  buttresses  were  planted  outside 
to  resist  the  thrust  of  the  vaulting. 

So  far  reparation  only  was  needed,  and  it  was  done 
with  admirable  completeness  and  economy.  But  the 
eastern  parts  of  the  church,  being  far  more  damaged, 
had  to  be  more  extensively  altered.  The  apsidal 
ending  and  radiating  chapels  of  the  Norman  church 
were  cither  destroyed,  or  so  much  injured  by  the  fire 
as  to  enforce  removal.  The  eastern  arm  was  there- 
fore lengthened  with  a  square  termination,  and  its 
arches,  two  on  either  side,  round-headed,  but  more 

98 


*  3  •• 


RIPON   CATHKIiRAL. 

(Showing   western    tower-arcli    of   the   Transition 


To  face  p.  98. 


ANGLO-NORMAN    AND   TRANSITIONAL 

deeply  moulded  than  the  Norman,  were  supported  by 
piers  of  remarkable  elegance,  consisting  of  a  central 
cylindrical  column,  surrounded  by  four  detached  shafts 
of    Purbeck    marble,    with    deeply    carved    capitals. 
These  were  surmounted  by  a  new  triforium  of  two 
pointed  arches  enclosed  within  a  round  one  with  sculp- 
tured tympanum,  and  resting  on  clustered  shafts  of 
Purbeck   marble.     Above    the   triforium    again    is   a 
clerestory  of  three  arches,  all  pointed  and  much  loftier 
than  in  the  three  western  bays  of  the  choir,  or  nave, 
resting  on  single  shafts  of  Purbeck,  and  combining, 
as  in  the  former  instances,  the  round  and  the  square 
abacus.     The  arch  opening  to  the  Lady   Chapel   is 
pointed,  but  ranges  in  height  with  the  two  north  and 
south,   and   is   surmounted   with   a   triforium   arcade 
of  corresponding  design,  and  over  this  is  a  triplet  of 
first-pointed  lancets. 

The  work  in  this  eastern  part  of  Chichester  Cathe- 
dral has  some  resemblance  in  style  to  the  choir  of 
Lincoln,  though  a  little  more  advanced.  Bishop 
Hugh's  architect,  Geoffrey  de  Noyers,  having 
begun  his  work  in  1186,  the  year  before  Chichester 
was  burnt. 

With  one  exception  there  are  no  buildings  in  London 
where  the  architecture  of  the  transitional  period  may 
be  studied,  but  that  building  is  a  gem  of  its  kind.  I 
refer  to  the  Temple  Church,  the  circular  portion  of 
which,  consecrated  in  1184,  is  indeed  fitted  by  its 
inspiring  and  spiritual  character  to  elevate  the  mind. 
It  thus  justifies  the  claim  I  have  made  for  the  award 
of  a  higher  place  than  even  the  intellectual  and 
material  glories  of  the  Parthenon  secured  for  Classic, 

99 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND   TRANSITIONAL 

Chester,  St  John's,  nave  arcades,  and  arches  of  former 

central  tower. 

Chichester  Cathedral,  the  greater  portion. 
Chislett,  Kent,  doorway. 
Christchurch  Priory,  Hants,  nave. 
Clun  Church,  Salop,  nave  arcades. 
Clyffe,  near  Dover,  St  Margaret's. 
Compton   Church,    near   Guildford,    chancel   and   its 

upper  story. 

Corringham  Church,  Bssex,  tower. 
Crediton  Church,  Devon,  lower  part  of  central  tower. 

Dartford  Church,  Kent,  tower. 

Devizes,  Wilts,  tower  and  chancel  of  St  John's. 

Dunstable  Priory,  Beds,  nave  arcades  and  triforia. 

Durham  Cathedral,  the  greater  portion. 

Bast  Dereham  Church,  Norfolk,  south  doorway. 

Elkstone    Church,    Gloucestershire,    chancel,    south 

door. 

Exeter  Cathedral,  towers. 
Exeter,  St  Nicholas  Priory,  undercroft  or  crypt. 

Framingham    Earl,    St    Andrew's,     near    Norwich, 
chancel  arch,  south  doorway. 

Garton  Church,  near  Driffield,  Yorkshire. 
Gloucester  Cathedral,  crypt,   arcades  and  triforia  of 

choir,  nave  arcades  and  triforia,  and  part  of  the 

chapter-house. 
Haddiscoe    Church,    near   Reedhatn,    Norfolk,   south 

doorway . 
Halesowen  Church,  Salop. 

1 01 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Hadleigh  Church,  near  Southend. 

Hanborough  Church,  Oxon,  doorway. 

Hemel  Hempstead  Church,  Herts. 

Hereford  Cathedral,  nave  arcades,  south  transept, 
piers  and  arches  of  central  tower,  choir,  as  far  as 
the  clerestory,  arch  at  east  end  of  choir. 

Horton  Church,  Berks,  north  doorway. 

Iffley  Church,  near  Oxford. 
Irchester  Church,  Northants. 

Kenil worth  Church,  west  doorway. 
Kilpeck  Church,  Herefordshire. 
Kilkhampton  Church,  Cornwall,  south  doorway. 
Kingsthorpe  Church,  Northants,  nave  arcades. 

Lastingham  Church,  Yorkshire,  crypt,  chancel. 
Leicester,  St  Nicholas,  tower  and  north  side  of  nave. 
Llandaff    Cathedral,    arch    between   choir   and   Lady 

Chapel,  south  doorway. 

London,  chapel  of  St  John  in  the  White  Tower. 
London,  choir  of  St  Bartholomew's,  Smithfield. 
London,  crypt  of  St  Mary  le  Bow,  Cheapside. 

Malvern  Priory,  Worcestershire,  nave  arcades. 
Margate,  columns  of  the  nave  arcades. 
Melbourne  Church,  Derbyshire. 
Minster  Church,  Thanet,  nave  arcades. 
Moccas  Church,  Herefordshire. 

Northampton,  St  Peter's. 

Norwich  Cathedral,  the  greater  portion. 

Ospringe,  Kent,  doorway. 
Oxford  Cathedral,  choir. 

Oxford,  St  Peter's  in  the  east,  chancel,  crypt. 

102 


ANGLO-NORMAN  AND  TRANSITIONAL 

Oxford,  Tower  of  St  Michael's. 

Patrixbourne  Church,  Kent. 
Peterborough  Cathedral,  the  greater  portion. 
Petersfield  Church,  Hants. 
Porchester  Church,  Hants. 

Rainham  Church,  Essex. 

Rochester  Cathedral,  part  of  crypt,  nave  arcades  and 

triforia,  west  front,  arches  and  windows  in  west 

front  of  ruined  chapter-house. 
Romsey  Abbey,  Hants,  the  greater  portion. 

Sandwich,  Kent,  St  Clement's,  tower,  doorway. 

St  Albans  Cathedral,  portions  of  nave,  central  tower, 

transepts. 

St  David's  Cathedral,  nave  arcades. 
St  Peter's,  Thanet,  nave  arcades. 
Sherborne  Minster,  piers  and  arches  of  central  tower, 

cores  of  some  of  the  nave  piers. 
Shrewsbury  Abbey,  nave. 

South  Cerney  Church,  Gloucester,  south  door. 
Southwell    Cathedral,    central    tower   and    transepts, 

nave  and  western  towers. 
Stafford,  St  Chad's. 
Stanton  Lacy  Church,  Salop. 
Steetley  Church,  Gloucestershire. 
Stewkly  Church,  Bucks. 
Stone  Church,  Lincolnshire. 
Stow   Hill   Church,    near   Newport,   Monmouthshire, 

nave  arcades. 

Tansor  Church,  Northants. 
Tewkesbury  Abbey,  the  greater  portion. 

103 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Thorn ey  Abbey,  Cambridgeshire. 
Tickencote  Church,  Rutlandshire. 

Upton  Church,  Bucks^  chancel. 

Walsoken  Church,  Norfolk,  nave  arcades. 

Waltham  Abbey,  nave. 

Water-Shedford  Church,  Bucks,  south  doorway. 

Whaplode  Church,  Lincolnshire,  nave  arcades. 

Wimborne  Minster,  central  tower. 

Winchester     Cathedral,     central     tower,     transepts, 

crypt,  cores  of  many  of  the  nave  piers. 
Westminster  Abbey,  substructure  of  the  dormitory, 

Chapel  of  the  Pyx. 

Winchfield  Church,  Hants,  chancel  arch. 
Wisbech,  St  Peter's,  north  arcade  of  nave. 
Worcester  Cathedral,  crypt,  much  of  the  masonry  in 

walls  of  nave  aisles  and  transepts. 
Worksop  Priory,  Notts. 
Worth  Church,  Sussex. 

York  Minster,  crypt. 

Youlgrave  Church,  Derbyshire,  nave  arcades. 

A  list  of  some  of  the  most  remarkable  buildings  of 
the  later  Norman  and  Transitional  periods,  1150- 
1190. 

Brading  Church,  Isle  of  Wight,  nave  arcades. 

Brinkburn  Priory,  Northumberland. 

Bristol    Cathedral,    vestibule    to    chapter-house,    and 

gateway  from  College  Green. 
Buildwas  Abbey,  Yorkshire. 
Byland  Abbey,  Yorkshire. 

Canterbury  Cathedral,  choir. 

104 


;  V 

<  ; 


THK  TKMl'LK  CHLRCH,   LONDON. 

(Circular  portion,    1184:    choir,    1240.) 


To  face  p.  104. 


ANGLO-NORMAN   AND   TRANSITIONAL 

Chaddesley-Corbet    Church,    Worcestershire,    south 

arcade  of  nave. 
Chichester   Cathedral,    retro-choir,   and    some   upper 

portions  of  the  choir. 

Darenth  Church,  near  Dartford. 
(Durham  Cathedral,  the  galilee. 

Eastbourne,  St  Mary's  Church. 

Ely  Cathedral,  portions  of  the  western  transept  and 

tower. 

Fountains  Abbey,  nave  and  transepts. 
Furness  Abbey. 

Glastonbury  Abbey,  St  Joseph's  Chapel. 

Harrow  Church,  nave  arcade. 

Hereford   Cathedral,   ambulatory   between   choir  and 
Lady  Chapel. 

Jedburgh  Abbey,  nave. 

Kelso  Abbey,  western  transept. 
Kirkstall  Abbey,  near  Leeds. 

Leckhampstead,  Bucks,  Church  of  the  Assumption, 

nave  arcades  on  north  side. 
Llanthony  Abbey,  nave  and  choir. 
London,  All  Hallows,  Barking,  some  columns  in  the 

nave. 
London,  circular  portion  of  the  Temple  Church. 

Malinesbury  Abbey,  nave. 

New  Shoreham  Church,  Sussex. 

Northampton,    circular    portion    of    St    Sepulchre's 
Church. 

105 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Newton  Longville  Church,  Bucks,  nave  arcade. 
Oxford,  the  greater  portion  of  the  cathedral. 

Peterborough  Cathedral,  the  western  transepts. 
Polebrook  Church,  Northants,  north  arcade  of  nave. 

Ripon  Cathedral,  transepts,  portions  of  the  nave  and 

choir. 

Roche  Abbey,  Yorkshire. 
Rothwell     Church,     Northants,     nave     arcades     and 

western  doorway. 

Selby  Abbey,  Yorkshire,  nave. 

Sohaiu  Church,   Cambridgeshire,   nave  arcades,   and 

arches  of  former  central  tower. 
Stamford,  St  Leonard's  Priory. 

Waddesdon  Church,  Bucks,  south  arcade  of  nave. 
Wells  Cathedral,  western  part  of  the  choir. 
Whitchurch,  St  Candida,  Dorset,  south  nave  arcade. 
Wimborne  Minster,  nave  arcade. 
Winchester,  St  Cross,  choir  and  transepts. 
Winchester,  St  John's,  nave  arcades. 
Winchester,  St  Peter's,  nave  arcades. 
Worcester  Cathedral,  two  western  bays  of  the  nave. 

Yarmouth  (Great),  St  Nicholas,  nave  arcades. 


1 06 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE    EARLY     ENGLISH     STYLE     OF     THE    THIRTEENTH 
CENTURY,    1190-1260 

The  dawn  of  a  new  and  glorious  era  —  General  characteristics  of 
thirteenth-century  architecture  —  The  pointed,  arch  —  Compari- 
son of  English  and  French  work  —  Some  representative 
buildings  —  Hints  for  examining  a  mediaeval  church  —  Apsidal 
terminations  —  Westminster  Abbey  —  English  mode*  of  choir 
extension  and  termination  —  The  square  east  end  —  Foreign 
methods  of  choir  planning. 


. 
IN  the  preceding  chapter  we  witnessed  the  struggle 

for  supremacy  that  was  going  on  during  the  reign  of 
Henry  II.  between  the  round  and  the  pointed  arch. 

By  the  time  the  twelfth  century  had  entered  upon 
its  last  decade,  the  latter  had  gained  the  ascendancy. 
The  Romanesque  or  round-arched  Gothic,  had,  both 
in  France  and  England,  transformed  itself  by  a  thor- 
oughly consecutive  and  logical  series  of  changes  into 
the  pointed-arch  style,  and  in  both  countries  that 
style  had  been  worked  into  a  state  of  perfect  consis- 
tency, and  in  each  it  had  assumed  its  national 
characteristics,  so  that  the  works  in  the  choir  at 
Lincoln,  the  retro-choir  at  Winchester,  and  the 
western  portal  of  Ely,  all  of  which  date  from  1190  to 
1215,  mark  the  perfectly  developed  English  style,  and 

107 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

are  readily  distinguishable  from  the  contemporary 
works  of  France. 

The  English  works  of  this  period  have,  at  least  to 
our  eye,  a  more  advanced  character  than  the  French. 
The  round  form  of  the  abacus  or  upper  portion  of  the 
capital,  the  greater  richness  and  delicacy  of  the 
mouldings,  and  generally  a  more  decided  severance 
from  the  massiveness  of  the  Romanesque  forms,  give 
to  the  works  before  alluded  to  a  later  appearance  than 
what  we  observe  in  buildings  of  the  same  precise 
period  in  France.  The  leading  characteristics  were, 
however,  much  the  same. 

Arches  are  pointed  *  generally  of  the  lancet  form, 
and  as  a  rule  richly  moulded.  Triforium  arches  and 
arcades  are  open,  with  trefoiled  heads.  Piers  are 
slender,  composed  of  a  central  circular  shaft  sur- 
rounded by  several  smaller  ones,  almost  or  quite 
detached,  often  with  horizontal  bands.  In  small 
buildings  the  plain  multangular  and  circular  pillar  is 
used.  Capitals  are  concave  in  outline,  moulded  or 
carved  with  representations  of  conventional  foliage, 
delicately  executed  and  arranged  vertically.  The 
abacus  is  always  undercut.  Detached  shafts  are  often 
of  Purbeck  marble,  and  bases  of  piers  and  shafts 
have  a  deep  hollow  between  two  rounds. 

The  windows  are  at  first  long,  narrow,  and  deeply 
splayed  internally,  the  glass  being  within  a  few  inches 

*  The  round  arch  was  occasionally  employed  even  in  the 
advanced  stage  of  the  style,  but  only  in  situations  where  the 
architect  felt  he  could  use  it  better  than  the  pointed  one,  as  for 
instance,  in  one  of  the  transept  doorways  of  Beverlcy  Minster, 
in  the  triforia  of  the  transepts  at  York,  and  of  the  choir  of 
Hexham  Abbe}-,  where  it  encloses  two  narrow  pointed  ones. 

1 08 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

of  the  face  of  the  wall.  Later  in  the  style  the  windows 
become  less  acute,  divided  by  mullions,  enriched 
with  foliated  circles  in  the  heads,  and  often  of  three 
or  more  lights,  the  centre  one  being  carried  highest. 
Doorways  are  often  deeply  recessed  and  enriched 
with  slender  shafts  and  elaborate  mouldings.  Shafts 
are  detached.  The  buttresses  become  a  more 
important  feature,  generally,  however,  with  but  one 
"set-oft"'  or  without  any.  They  are  placed  at 
angles  and  always  in  pairs.  Fonts  assume  a  variety 
of  shapes,  and  are  often  ornamented  with  foliage  in 
high  relief,  or  the  tooth  ornament,  the  stem  being 
surrounded  by  detached  shafts.  Mouldings  are  bold 
and  deeply  undercut,  consisting  chiefly  of  pointed 
and  filleted  bowtells  or  rounds,  separated  by  deep 
hollows . 

Great  depth  of  moulded  surfaces  are  generally 
arranged  in  rectangular  planes.  Hollows  are  of 
irregular  curves,  and  are  sometimes  filled  with  the 
tooth  ornament  or  foliage.  Roofs  take  a  high  pitch, 
the  timbers  being  plain  and  open.  Early  in  the  style 
finials  formed  of  plain  bunches  of  leaves  make  their 
appearance;  and  towards  the  close  assume  more 
ornate  forms,  together  with  the  introduction  of 
crockets.  Carved  foliage  is  of  an  unconventional 
character ;  flat  surfaces  are  often  richly  diapered ; 
spires  become  more  graceful  and  elance,  and  are,  as  a 
rule,  broached. 

Such  are  the  leading  features  of  that  new  and 
glorious  era  in  church  architecture  upon  which  our 
history  has  now  entered,  known  as  the  Early  English 
or  first  pointed. 

109 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

An  age  of  church-building  zeal  and  devotion 
seems  to  'have  revelled  and  expatiated  in  the  luxury 
of  this  newly  developed  pointed  system,  for  now  the 
whole  contour  of  buildings  is  changed  from  heavy  to 
light,  from  low  to  lofty,  from  horizontal  to  vertical, 
one  might  almost  say  from  earthly  to  heavenly. 

With  an  occasional  glance  at  the  contemporary 
architecture  of  other  nations  for  the  sake  of  com- 
parison, we  confine  ourselves  exclusively  to  English 
architecture  of  the  last  ten  years  of  the  twelfth 
century  and  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century 
for  several  reasons.  It  is  ample  for  the  space  at 
disposal,  it  is  the  best  architecture  of  the  period,  and 
it  has  such  distinct  characteristics  as  to  make  it 
necessary  to  treat  it  by  itself. 

In  earlier  times  this  was  not  so.  Our  earlier 
architecture  was  Roman  in  its  origin  ;  our  transitional 
still  Romanesque  in  almost  all  respects ;  and  in  the 
thirteenth  century  it  was  that  architecture  burst  out 
with  what  was  really  a  new  invention — a  new  style. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  dilate  on  the  thirteenth  century 
and  all  its  glories.  The  age  of  Dante  and  of  the 
great  group  of  Italian  artists  of  all  sorts  who  sur- 
rounded him — Giotto,  the  Pisani,  Memmi,  Buffalmaco, 
Arnolfo,  and  others.  In  France  it  was  the  age  of 
Philip  Augustus  and  St  Louis,  and  of  the  grandest 
churches  in  that  great  country — Amiens,  Chartres, 
Rheims,  Soissons,  Rouen ;  in  England  the  period 
which  is  occupied  by  the  reigns  of  John  and  Henry 
III.,  which  saw  the  erection  of  Salisbury,  West- 
minster, Wells,  Lincoln,  the  transepts  of  York, 
Fountains,  Whitby,  Beverley,  Hexham,  not  to 

no 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

mention  others;  the  age  in  which  Magna  Charta 
was  signed,  and  the  foundations  laid  of  all  our 
subsequent  greatness  and  prosperity ;  in  which, 
finally,  English  art  arrived  at  a  perfection  never  since 
approached. 

In  the  transitional  style  there  was  more  respect  for 
the  past  than  hope  for  the  future,  the  pointed  arch 
was  used  because  it  was  useful,  and  because  it  was 
liked.  The  problem  in  construction  which  its  use 
involved  had  not  been  realised  or  worked  out.  The 
art  Was  essentially  one  of  rest  and  quietness. 

Amongst  the  reasons  for  the  development  of  the  new 
mode  of  building  none  was  more  important  than  the 
adoption  of  groining ;  when  this  was  introduced  the 
builders  perceived  that  the  pointed  arch  was  the  best 
suited  for  their  purpose.  With  the  circular  arch, 
groining  could  be  and  was  used,  but  with  grave 
inconvenience  in  the  arrangement  of  the  diagonal  and 
principal  arches,  whilst  the  construction  was  weak. 
Thus  it  became  almost  essential  that  the  arch  used  in 
vaulting  should  be  pointed.  Then  the  thrust  of  the 
arches  had  to  be  resisted,  and  this  provision  for  thrust 
led  to  the  introduction  of  the  buttress,  and  the  more 
scientific  disposition  of  the  masses. 

Before  the  thirteenth  century  all  the  principles  of 
architecture  were  founded  on  classical  traditions. 
The  arch,  it  is  true,  was  used,  but  it  was  the  arch  at 
rest.  It  appeared  to  exert  no  lateral  thrust.  The 
piers  were  enormous,  the  walls  very  thick,  with  no 
buttresses,  and  the  weight  and  the  thrust  of  superin- 
cumbent work  was  as  great  as  possible,  but  distributed 
all  over  the  length  of  the  wall  face.  In  the  thirteenth 

in 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

century  all  this  was  changed.  Men  discovered  the 
real  use  of  the  arch.  The  pointed  arch  had  been  used 
in  the  East  at  a  much  earlier  period.  In  north- 
western Europe  it  \vas  introduced,  as  we  have  seen  in 
the  previous  chapter,  about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 
century ;  but  only  because  it  was  convenient.  How  it 
came  to  be  invented  would  in  any  case  be  a  merely 
antiquarian  question ;  but  how  suddenly  the  discovery 
of  its  proper  use  revolutionised  architecture,  and  led 
at  once  to  the  invention  of  a  new  style,  is  really  the 
most  interesting  fact  in  the  whole  history  of  the  art. 
All  other  styles  may  be  said  to  have  been  slowly 
developed  by  patient  steps,  each  being  little  in 
advance  of  the  last.  Here  we  have  a  sudden  mighty 
change  in  the  whole  practice  of  architecture  following 
immediately  on  what  was  as  distinctly  a  discovery  as 
are  any  of  those  great  inventions  which  in  the  last 
century  have  changed  the  whole  current  of  labour  in 
so  many  ways. 

Thirteenth-century  architecture  is  not  in  any  proper 
sense  a  mere  development.  Its  authors  knew,  indeed, 
what  had  been  done  in  their  earlier  years  and  by  their 
fathers.  Their  merit  was  that  they  realised  at  once 
in  a  practical  way  the  proper  consequences  of  the  use 
of  the  pointed  arch.  What  were  these  ?  (i)  Weights 
were  gathered  together,  carried  to  the  ground  in  part, 
and  in  part  distributed  by  arches  to  other  piers  or 
buttresses.  (2)  Walls  were  no  longer  continuous 
masses  of  vast  thickness.  The  wall  proper  was  a  thin 
connecting  link  between  the  buttresses  which  received 
the  weight  from  above,  brought  to  them  by  arches  and 
flying  buttresses.  (3)  The  construction  was  every  - 

112 


=i 


PlCR  CA«»IT«I..   CHOIR  •(  LiNtotw 

CATHEDRAL    C.    ll<»0  . 

[_„  -1 


To  /act  p.  1 1 a. 


THIRTEENTH   CENTURY    UOTH1C    DETAILS. 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

where  displayed.  Men's  delight  in  it  made  them 
show  it,  and  henceforth  the  ornament  followed  the 
construction  so  closely  that  it  became  almost  a  canon 
that  all  ornament  should  be  used  with  a  view  to 
emphasising  the  constructional  lines  of  the  design. 
The  result  of  these  three  rules  was,  one  may  almost 
say,  a  necessary  one.  Architecture  was,  as  it  were, 
suddenly  vivified.  Where  before  all  was  at  rest, 
suddenly  an  active  life  pervaded  every  stone.  The 
building  became  almost  as  full  of  life  as  a  human 
being.  Each  part  had  its  work  to  do,  and  its  shape, 
its  position,  its  section,  was  contrived  expressly  to 
enable  it  to  do  it  in  the  best  way.  The  essential 
difference  between  all  earlier  architecture  and  that  of 
the  thirteenth  century  was,  in  a  word,  that  in  the 
latter  there  was  from  beginning  to  end  thrust  and 
counter-thrust  in  every  part  of  the  wall.  From  the 
base  to  the  top  of  the  highest  pinnacle  every  stone  may 
almost  be  said  to  have  its  work  to  do.  Masons  and 
architects  had  been  skilful  and  able  up  to  a  certain 
point  before.  They  had  laboured  to  give  decorative 
effect  to  their  work  by  a  profusion  of  carved  enrich- 
ments ;  but  they  had  shown  little,  if  any,  scientific 
power.  Within  a  few  years  the  same  men  and  their 
children  have  become  transformed  into  workers  so 
skilful  and  so  scientific  that  every  portion  of  their 
work  has  been  touched  by  a  warm  breeze  of  refinement, 
which  presents  us  with  the  most  delicately  beautiful 
results  that  have  ever  been  seen  in  the  work  of 
architects  in  any  age. 

All   later  changes  were  again,    as   before,   merely 
developments.     There    is   no   difference  in    principle 

113  H 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

between  thirteenth  century  and  fourteenth,  or  between 
fourteenth  century  and  fifteenth,  and  the  only  radical 
changes  since  the  thirteenth  century  have  been  the 
determination  of  the  Renaissance  builders  to  forget 
that  such  a  thing  as  a  pointed  arch  had  ever  been 
constructed. 

The  limits  accorded  to  me  preclude  my  dwelling 
with  great  particularity  as  to  exactly  where  and  when 
this  great  development  arose ;  most  people  concur  in 
allowing  to  France  the  greater  share  of  the  honour. 
In  England,  one  of  the  earliest  examples  of  radical 
change  in  style  is  that  to  be  seen  in  the  choir  of 
Canterbury  Cathedral,  the  work  of  a  Frenchman. 
But  the  distinctly  French  style  of  this  church — the 
style  of  the  Domain  Roy  ale,  or  country  within  a 
radius  of  fifty  miles  or  so  from  Paris — had  curiously 
little  influence  on  architecture  elsewhere  in  England. 
And  there  is  more  general  likeness  between  the 
buildings  of  Normandy  and  England  than  between 
those  of  Normandy  and  the  province  just  alluded  to. 

Proceeding  to  a  more  detailed  examination  of  this 
grand  period  of  architecture,  we  find  a  group  of  great 
cathedrals,  abbeys,  and  parish  churches  either  com- 
pleted or  partially  so  between  the  accession  of  King 
John  in  1199,  and  the  death  of  Henry  III.  in  1272. 
Of  the  Temple  Church  in  London  the  choir  was 
consecrated  on  Ascension  Day,  1240,  in  the  presence 
of  Henry  III.  Of  Westminster  Abbey,  the  first  stone 
was  laid  in  1245  °f  the  choir  (or  as  it  is  generally 
styled,  the  sacrurium)  and  transepts,  and  it  had  made 
sufficient  progress  twenty-five  years  later  to  enable  it 
to  be  used  for  service,  though  the  greater  part  of  the 

H4 


\VKI.I.S    (    \TIII;.I)R AI.. 

'1'he    Nave,    looking    cast.      Early    English    style.) 


To  fuce  p.   114. 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

Confessor's  nave  was  still  standing.  Stone  Church, 
near  Dartford,  Skelton  Church,*  near  York,  and 
Southwark  Cathedral — at  that  time  the  church  of  an 
Augustinian  Priory — were  completed  shortly  after  the 
middle  of  the  century.  Salisbury  Cathedral  was  built 
by  Bishops  Poore  and  Bridport,  on  a  uniform  design, 
between  1218  and  1259,  the  glorious  central  tower  and 
spire  being  left  for  future  ages  to  achieve.  Wells 
Cathedral,  begun  at  least  ten  years  before  the  close 
of  the  twelfth  century,  was  consecrated  in  1239, 
in  which  year  a  whole  batch  of  cathedrals  and 
churches  were  hallowed,  so  much  of  the  building  as 
was  absolutely  necessary  for  divine  service  being 
finished.  Contemporary  with  Wells  are  the  choir  and 
eastern  transepts  of  Lincoln — St  Hugh's  share  in  that 
noble  minster.  On  the  showing  of  the  highest 
authorities  both  in  England  and  France,  these  two 
buildings  are  the  earliest  pure  Gothic  ones  in  Europe. 
A  little  later  and  we  have  Bishop  Lucy's  exquisite 
retro-choir  and  Lady  Chapel  at  Winchester.  The 
transepts  of  York  Minster,  in  progress  between  1227 
and  1240,  were  the  first  instalment  of  a  design  for 
rebuilding  the  Norman  cathedral  on  its  present 
grandiose  scale.  Fountains  Abbey,  parts  of  St 
Albans  Cathedral,  the  western  transepts  and  nave  of 
Lincoln  Cathedral,  the  extension  of  the  choir  of 
Durham,  and  the  choir  and  transepts  of  Beverley 
Minster  are  all  among  the  greatest  works  in  progress 
up  to  the  middle  of  the  century,  to  which  period  belong 
almost  all  the  most  exquisite  of  our  abbeys — Netley, 

*  Two  tniall  but  elegant  examples  of  the  style. 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Beaulieu,  Wliitby,  Rievaulx,  St  Mary's,  York, 
Lanercost,  Binham,  Tintern,  Fountains  (east  end), 
Easby,  Finchale;  and  in  Scotland — Dryburgh,  Plus- 
cardine,  Elgin,  New  or  Sweetheart,  Jedburgh,  and 
Glasgow ;  and  in  Ireland — Christ  Church  and  St 
Patrick's  Cathedrals,  Dublin,  Ardfert,  Kildare,  Kil- 
kenny, etc. 

The  buildings,  of  which  a  brief  list  has  been 
given,  are  of  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  In  point  of  fact  the  style  to  which  the 
reader's  attention  is  directed  is  seen  in  some  of  its 
earliest  efforts,  fairly  complete  in  the  last  twenty 
years  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  by  the  end  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  III.  so  changed  as  to  be  in  truth  a 
different  style.  It  is  only  in  a  rough  and  arbitrary 
way  that  we  can  talk  of  the  art  of  a  century,  and  it 
must  be  always  as  of  that  which  most  distinguished 
the  century,  rather  than  that  which  was  practised 
throughout  the  whole  course  of  it.  There  was  too 
much  life  and  change  to  make  any  other  treatment 
of  the  question  possible. 

Of  the  examples  which,  by  those  resident  in  London, 
may  most  readily  be  studied  on  the  spot,  I  may  name 
Westminster  Abbey,  the  Temple  Church,  Southwark 
Cathedral,  and  the  chapel  of  Lambeth  Palace;  while 
within  easy  access  of  town  are  Dunstable  Priory,  St 
Albans  Cathedral,  Rochester  Cathedral,  and  St  Mary 
Stone,  near  Dartford. 

My  readers  may  like  to  have  some  rule  for 
examining  a  church  by  themselves.  They  should 
observe,  wherever  thev  go,  the  following  points  in 
every  building  :  (i)  Ground-plan,  and  plan  of  groining. 

116 


ROCIIKSTKR    CATHKDRAL 

(Tin'    Choir,    looking    cast.       K.irlv    ICn 


To  face  p.   116. 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

(2)  General  character  of  design.  (3)  Character  of 
piers,  arches,  and  mouldings.  (4)  Character  of 
traceries  and  arcades.  (5)  Special  features  of  con- 
struction. (6)  Furniture,  stained  glass,  monuments, 
and  details  generally.  And  to  enable  them  to  do  so 
I  may  tell  them  in  a  few  words  what  they  will  usually 
find  and  should  look  for  in  such  examinations. 

i.  GROUND-PLAN. — Most  Anglo-Norman  and  foreign 
Romanesque  plans  had  apsidal  terminations.  Canter- 
bury has  one,  but  copied  from  Sens ;  Westminster  is 
apsidal,  but  designed  by  an  Englishman  though  under 
somewhat  French  influence. 

English  prejudice  was,  however,  against  the  apse, 
and  it  is  very  rarely  introduced  in  work  in  this  country 
after  the  twelfth  century.  Glastonbury,  "  a  well 
of  English  undefiled,"  is  square-ended.  A  great 
number  of  twelfth-century  apsidal  east  ends  were 
destroyed  in  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries 
in  order  to  make  room  for  square  ends,  sometimes 
under  difficulties,  as,  for  instance,  at  Winchester  and 
Gloucester,  where  the  crypts  remain  apsidal,  although 
the  superstructure  is  altered.  Stone  Church,  which 
was  obviously  built  by  the  same  men  as  Westminster, 
is  square-ended.  In  fact  apsidal  terminations  after 
the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  seem  very  rarely 
constructed  in  England,  though  many  were  pulled 
down.  As  most  of  the  churches  built  in  this  country 
in  Anglo-Saxon  times  terminated  rectangularly,  this 
prejudice  in  its  favour  may  have  been  only  a 
recurrence  to  the  old  familiar  form  in  the  thirteenth 
century. 

In  Westminster  Abbey  we  have  a  very  English 

117 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

version  of  a  French  chevet,  as  the  apsidal  end  with  its 
aisle  and  chapels  is  called.  I  need  hardly  remind  my 
readers  how  beautiful  its  general  effect  is.  But  if 
they  will  examine  its  ground-plan  they  will  see  how 
extremely  scientific  it  is  in  every  arrangement,  and 
how  it  grew  out  of  the  necessities  of  the  case.  Agreed 
that  the  central  roof  must  be  lofty,  properly  lighted, 
and  covered  with  a  stone  vault,  and  the  apsidal  form 
makes  it  necessary  to  provide  buttressess  radiating 
from  the  centre.  In  order  to  provide  aisles  round 
the  apse,  these  buttresses  have  to  be  carried  on  arches, 
and  thus  become  flying  buttresses,  and  the  spaces 
between  them  become  available  for  use  as  chapels, 
opening  out  of  the  aisle  or  procession  path. 

A  single  chapter  might  be  devoted  to  an  explanation 
of  the  various  developments  of  plan  which  the 
necessities  of  the  apse  and  its  chapels  gave  rise  to. 
There  is  no  feature  in  which  so  much  varied  ingenuity 
has  been  displayed  by  the  mediaeval  architect,  and  to 
the  French,  especially  those  of  the  north,  the  palm 
must  be  awarded  in  this  matter.  None  others  were  so 
capricious  or  so  bold.  The  Italians  and  the  Germans 
never  attempted  to  compete  with  them,  for  though 
they  occasionally  made  use  of  the  aisled  apse,  it  was 
in  an  awkward  way,  and  our  own  ancestors  were  led  to 
abandon  it  in  favour  of  the  square  end,  which,  though 
it  may  be  as  noble  in  its  effect — as,  for  example,  in 
the  Early  English  Ely,  the  Decorated  Lincoln,  and  the 
Perpendicular  York — is  neither  so  ingenious  nor  so 
difficult  in  its  construction.  The  whole  character  of 
the  design  of  Westminster  Abbey  is  English,  not 
French  ;  and  the  planning  of  the  apse  is  unlike  that 

118 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

of  any  French  apse,  and  is  distinctly  original.  As 
regards  some  details,  especially  the  windows,  there  is 
a  striking  similarity  between  the  apses  of  Westminster 
and  Rheims.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  our 
Henry  III.,  during  his  sojourn  in  France,  became 
enamoured  of  this  arrangement,  which  in  its  perfected 
form  he  may  have  seen  in  course  of  construction  at 
Amiens,  Beauvais,  Rheims,  and  elsewhere.  It  would 
naturally  strike  him  as  being  well  suited  to  the 
reconstruction  of  the  eastern  portion  of  a  church 
already  possessing  an  apse  with  a  circumambient  aisle, 
as  the  Confessor's  did.  Judging  from  internal 
evidence  I  should  imagine  that  an  English  architect 
or  master  of  the  works  was  commissioned  to  visit  the 
great  cathedrals  then  rising  all  over  France  north  of 
the  Loire,  with  a  view  of  making  his  design  on  the 
general  idea  suggested  by  them.  Would  that,  like 
his  contemporary,  Villard  de  Honnecourt,  he  had 
bequeathed  us  his  sketch-book. 

The  general  resemblance  here  referred  to  does  not 
amount  to  any  proof  of  identity  between  the  building 
and  its  architect,  but  it  is  a  most  interesting  fact  that 
Westminster  Abbey  is  the  only  introduction  into 
England  of  the  perfect  French  arrangement  of  chapels 
at  the  extremity  of  the  church,  as  a  chevet,  a  combina- 
tion of  design  beautiful  beyond  comparison ;  while  the 
square  ends  of  Ely  and  Southwell  and  Hexham, 
majestic  as  they  are,  or  the  picturesque  grouping  of 
low  eastern  chapels  at  Chester,  Chichester,  Hereford, 
Salisbury,  and  Southwark,  are  hardly  worthy  to  be 
considered  as  in  any  degree  equivalent  to  the  charm 
of  those  coronse  of  radiating  apsidal  chapels  at 

119 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Amiens,  Beauvais,  Le  Mans,  Altenberg,  Cologne, 
Prague,  and  elsewhere,  and  it  seems  remarkable  that 
where  other  buildings  were  really  copied  almost 
literally  by  their  architects,  and  transplanted  into 
England,  so  beautiful  an  arrangement  as  the  chevet 
at  Westminster  should  not  have  taken  root  in  this 
island. 

In  his  book,  '  Gleanings  from  Westminster 
Abbey,"  Sir  Gilbert  Scott  mentions  remarkable 
points  of  difference,  and  an  absence  of  any  such 
marks  as  might  be  sufficient  to  refer  this  masterpiece 
of  design  and  construction  to  any  known  architect ; 
neither  could  he  detect  a  French  character  in  the 
details,  although  the  comparison  is  so  essentially  and 
singularly  foreign.  In  this  respect  the  Abbey  stands 
almost  alone.  It  is,  indeed,  a  building  of  marvellous 
beauty  internally ;  its  lofty  arcade,  richly  diapered 
spandrels,  deeply  moulded  triforium  with  its  double 
plane  of  traceried  arches,  surmounted  by  lofty 
clerestory  windows,  form  a  composition  hardl}-  to  be 
surpassed.  Nor  is  there  any  cathedral  bearing  close 
resemblance  to  it.  Yet,  strange  to  say,  the  nave  of 
Westminster  has  been  often  compared  with  that  of 
Rheims,  to  which  it  bears  very  little  similarity, 
Westminster  being  infinitely  the  superior  work, 
always  excepting  the  west  front  of  Rheims,  which,  as 
a  work  of  its  kind,  is  unsurpassed.  The  only  reason 
that  can  be  assigned  for  its  being  put  in  comparison 
with  Rheims  is  that,  like  Westminster,  it  has  been 
the  church  generally  chosen  for  coronations. 

I  am  strongly  of  opinion  that  it  is  the  work  of  an 
architect  who,  seeing  the  results  achieved  by  the 

120 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

French  architects,  desired  to  achieve  the  same  ends 
without  exactly  concerning  himself  as  to  the  means 
which  they  employed ;  and  hence  his  work  is  not  only 
in  its  detail,  but  equally  in  its  ground-plan,  distinctly 
an  English  work. 

The  usual  difficulty  in  planning  an  apse  is  to  get 
the  sides  nearly  equal,  the  bays  of  the  aisles  regular, 
and  the  chapels  beyond  equal  also,  and  to  do  all  this 
without  waste  of  space  or  unnecessary  amount  of 
walling.  It  may  also  be  said  that  no  two  French  apses 
were  alike,  so  many  were  the  efforts  to  produce  a 
perfect  result.  In  Beauvais,  Bourges,  Rouen,  Le 
Mans,  and  Notre-Dame  at  Paris,  the  most  perfect 
arrangements  are  found — surpassed,  however,  I  am 
disposed  to  think,  by  that  of  Amiens  which,  undoubt- 
edly, gave  its  lines  to  those  later  chevets  south  of  the 
Loire  at  Clermont  Ferrand,  Limoges,  Bordeaux, 
Narbonne,  Rodez,  and  Toulouse. 

At  Westminster  the  architect  contrived  to  make  all 
his  chapels  exactly  equal ;  but  in  order  to  do  this  he 
had  to  make  a  rather  clumsy  mass  of  masonry 
between  the  end  of  the  outer  aisle  and  the  first  chapel, 
and  he  has  an  awkward  bay  between  the  choir  aisle 
and  that  of  the  apse,  cutting  into  and  spoiling  the 
perspective.  In  almost  all  the  French  plans  the  base 
line  of  the  apse  is  definitely  marked,  and  the  lines  as 
far  as  possible  all  radiate  from  the  centre  of  the  central 
apse.  At  Amiens  Cathedral,  which  I  have  already 
alluded  to  as  the  most  perfect,  they  all  do  so.  The 
surrounding  chapels  are  all  equal,  and  there  is  no 
awkwardness  in  the  junction  of  the  flying  buttresses  of 
the  apses  with  the  walls  and  buttresses  of  the  side 

121 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

aisles.  At  Westminster  the  line  of  the  commence- 
ment of  the  chevet  is  not  marked ;  one  of  the  centres 
of  the  apse  has  no  chapel  opposite,  and  there  is  great 
awkwardness  in  the  prolongation  of  the  radiating 
treatment  of  the  buttresses  beyond  the  base  of  the 
apse.  In  this  respect  no  French  example  is  like  it. 

The  architect  of  the  chevet  and  "  sacrarium  "  *  of 
Westminster,  however,  in  imitating  the  great  con- 
temporary churches  in  France,  did  not  adopt  another 
of  their  great  characteristics — the  bar-tracery  of  their 
windows.  I  am  not  aware  that  it  exists  in  a  perfect 
form  in  any  earlier  English  work,  though  often  closely 
approached.  It  is  said  that  Netley  Abbey  was  erected 
about  1240;  and  the  eastern  part  of  old  St  Paul's  is 
said  to  have  been  consecrated  in  that  year,  and  as  both 
of  these  contained  perfected  tracery,  the  substantiation 
of  those  dates  would  establish  for  us  an  earlier  claim. 
But  on  the  whole  I  think  we  may  fairly  yield  this 
development  to  our  neighbours,  and  consider  this  to 
be  about  the  period  at  which  we  borrowed  it ;  though 
so  perfect  is  the  catena  of  transitional  steps  that  we 
should  have  had  no  difficulty  in  tracing  out  the  history 
of  the  development  from  English  examples.  The 
earliest  introduction  of  the  perfected  principle  of  bar- 
tracery  is  seen  in  the  apse  of  Rheims  Cathedral.  We 
find  there  the  pierced  spandrels  and  gussets  moulded 
as  the  openings  themselves,  and  the  principle  of  bar- 
tracery  completed,  though  with  some  remaining 
imperfections.  It  is  very  difficult  to  fix  dates  for 

*  A  term  applied  to  the  eastern  lirub  of  Westminster  Abbey  from 
time  immemorial.  Strictly  speaking  the  "  sacrarium  "  i»  the 
"  piscina." 

122 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

these  transitions.  Rheims  Cathedral  was  commenced 
in  1 212,  and  M.  Viollet  le  Due,  the  distinguished 
French  architect  of  the  last  century,  was  always 
puzzled  at  finding  perfect  traceried  windows  at  so 
early  a  period,  and  suggested  it  as  probable,  as  the 
transept  of  the  same  work  does  not  exhibit  equal 
advancement,  that  the  aisle  windows  were  altered  by 
the  first  architect  a  little  later.  Certain  it  is  that 
neither  Bourges  nor  Chartres  Cathedrals,  which  were 
in  progress  about  the  same  time,  give  any  evidence 
of  a  like  progression ;  while  the  intermediate  step  at 
Le  Mans  and  Tours  would  appear — from  many  of  its 
accompanying  details — to  be  of  later  date  than  that 
given  to  Rheims.  Had  de  Honnecourt  put  a  date  to 
his  sketch-book,  which  gives  these  very  windows 
at  Rheims,  the  difficulty  would  perhaps  have  been 
solved.* 

Westminster  Abbey  then  stands  forth  prominently 
among  great  English  churches  as  marking,  first,  the 
introduction  of  the  French  arrangement  of  chapels, 
which,  however,  failed  to  take  root  here ;  and  secondly, 
the  completed  type  of  bar-tracery  which  was  no  sooner 
grafted  on  an  English  stock  than  it  began  to  shoot 
forth  in  most  vigorous  and  luxuriant  growth. 

We  lost  a  valuable  example  of  the  English  treat- 
ment of  the  chevet  when  the  late  twelfth-century  choir 
of  Lincoln  Cathedral  was  extended,  only  fifty  years 
after  its  completion,  to  make  way  for  the  square-ended 
Angel  Choir,  which  beautiful  as  it  is,  hardly  com- 

*  The  sketch-book  of  Villard  de  Honnecourt  shows  that  the 
plan  was  altered  after  the  work  was  begun,  and  these  windovrs 
belong  to  the  later  period  (c.  1240). 

123 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

pensates  us  for  the  loss  of  so  interesting  an  essay  in  the 
art  of  apse  planning  as  that  of  St  Hugh's  architect, 
Geoffrey  de  Noyers. 

Excavations  prove  that  at  Lincoln  there  was  no 
intermediate  bay  between  the  curve  of  the  apse  and 
the  eastern  transepts.  It  had  five  sides,  and  a 
procession  path,  into  which  five  chapels  of  unequal 
size  and  outline  opened,  encircled  it.  From  this  it 
would  seem  that  the  Lincoln  architect  had  not  grasped 
those  fundamental  principles  of  the  art  of  chevet 
planning  which  the  Frenchman  knew  so  well  how  to 
apply.  What  the  details  of  this  apse  were  is  only 
recoverable  by  analogy  with  the  work  existing  in  the 
choir  and  transepts,  and  this  makes  us  again  regret 
that  no  English  Villard  de  Honnecourt  has  left  us  his 
album. 

Meanwhile  a  purely  insular  system  of  eastern 
termination,  in  which  the  procession  path  and  chapels 
debouching  into  it,  had  (under  various  circumstances) 
been  devised  at  Winchester,*  Hereford,  Chichester, 
Chester,  Salisbury",  and  later  at  Exeter,  St  Albans, 
Wells,  and  Manchester.  At  St  David's  this  exten- 
sion was  effected  in  a  peculiar  manner,  which  will  be 
detailed  hereafter.  In  Scotland  this  arrangement  may 

*  A  work  of  great  value,  both  from  its  simplicity  and  beauty, 
and  well-ascertained  date,  and  as  being  the  earliest  example  of 
what  became  so  frequent  afterwards),  a  Lady  Chapel  of  lesser 
altitude  but  of  considerable  size  and  great  architectural 
splendour,  built  at  the  extreme  east  end  of  a  cathedral  or  other 
great  church.  It  was  the  work  of  Bishop  Lucy  (1186-1204)  the 
Norman  apse  being  removed  to  make  way  for  this  extension.  An 
admirable  description  of  how  this  was  effected  is  given  in  the 
volume  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Archaeological  Institute  for  1845, 
from  the  pen  of  Professor  Willis. 

124 


CH1CHESTER    CATHEDRAL. 
(From   the    N.E.,    showing    English    mode   of    Choir  extension.) 


To  face  p.   124. 


ST.    DAVID   S    CATHEDRAL. 
(From    the   S.E.,    showing    English    mode  of    Choir   extension.) 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

be  seen  at  Glasgow,  and  in  Ireland  at  St  Patrick's 
Cathedral,  Dublin. 

The  plan  of  their  architects  was  to  prolong  the 
aisles  one  or  more  bays  beyond  the  gable  end  of 
the  choir,  by  which  means  an  ambulatory  or  via 
processionum  was  obtained  behind  the  high  altar, 
and  from  which  an  arch  opened  into  a  chapel  extending 
for  a  considerable  distance  eastward.  The  peculiar 
arrangement  of  these  low  eastern  aisles  originated  at 
Hereford  very  early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  if  not 
before  the  close  of  the  twelfth,  and  it  was  quickly 
followed  at  Winchester,  where  we  may  see  the  most 
extensive  illustration  of  this  singularly  English 
arrangement.  At  Hereford  the  low  eastern  work 
consists  of  two  compartments  of  transition  Norman 
leading  to  an  Early  English  Lady  Chapel,  and  flanked 
by  low  Decorated  transepts.  The  distribution  of  the 
piers  in  the  low  eastern  work  at  Wells,  which  is  quite 
the  latest  example  of  this  system  of  extension,  is 
peculiarly  complex,  and  produces  a  beautiful  effect. 
It  appears  to  have  been  contrived  with  two  objects— 
the  circulation  of  processions,  and  as  a  depository  for 
the  shrine  of  the  saint  locally  honoured.  Gervase, 
the  historian  of  Canterbury,  has  told  us  that  care  was 
taken  to  accommodate  processions  in  the  eastern  aisles 
of  Conrad's  "  glorious  choir,"  which  so  soon  usurped 
that  of  Lanfranc.  William  of  Worcester  applies  the 
term  via  processionum  to  eastern  aisles,  and  in 
English  vocabularies  they  are  called  the  "  procession 
path." 

How    Bishop    de    Lucy's    architect    effected     the 
junction  of  the  Norman  choir  at  Winchester  with  his 

I25 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Early  English  work  in  the  new  extension,  after  his 
removal  of  the  Norman  apse,  we  can  only  conjecture, 
as  great  alterations  took  place  in  that  part  of  the 
church  which  lies  between  the  Norman  tower  of 
Bishop  Walkelin  and  the  gable  end  of  the  choir, 
during  the  fourteenth  century ;  but  it  is  probable  that 
three  Early  English  arches  surmounted  by  a  triplet  of 
lancet  windows  were  employed  as  at  Salisbury  twenty 
years  later.  This  retro-choir  at  Winchester  is  a 
parallelogram  on  plan,  divided  into  a  centre  and  two 
side  divisions  of  equal  height  by  graceful  Early 
English  columns  and  arches,  the  bays  thus  made  being 
utilised  at  a  much  later  period  for  the  sumptuous 
chantries  of  Bishop  Waynflete  and  Cardinal  Beaufort. 
The  central  division  opens  eastward  into  a  square- 
ended  Lady  Chapel,  partly  Early  English,  with  a 
Perpendicular  bay  added,  and  the  side  ones  into 
smaller  chapels  also  rectangular,  which,  until  its 
extension,  had  their  east  ends  in  a  line  with  that  of 
the  Lady  Chapel. 

At  St  Mary  Overy  (now  the  cathedral  of  St  Saviour, 
Southwark),  we  see  the  same  idea  carried  out  as  at 
Winchester,  from  which  perhaps  it  may  have  been 
copied.  At  Southwark  there  are  four  parallel  chapels, 
each  with  its  separately  gabled  roof  behind  the  east 
end  of  the  choir,  three  bays  in  length,  and  separated 
from  one  another  by  graceful  columns  and  arches ; 
there  is  no  procession  path,  the  outer  walls  of  the 
chapels  being  carried  on  as  at  Winchester  in  the  same 
line  as  those  of  the  choir  aisles,  which  thus  open 
directly  into  these  chapels,  so  that  the  eastern  limb 
of  the  church  is,  on  plan,  a  rectangle.  There  are  two 

126 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

arches  at  the  east  end  of  the  choir,  but  whether  they 
ever  opened  into  this  "  retro-choir  '  —as  the  late  Mr 
Francis  Dollman,  who  had  devoted  much  study  to  the 
church,  always  called  it — is  a  matter  of  some  doubt. 
The  masonry  with  which  they  are  now  filled,  looking 
at  them  from  these  chapels,  appears,  from  the  reticu- 
lated panelling  upon  them,  to  belong  to  the  later 
Decorated  period,  and  they  were  quite  concealed  from 
the  choir  when,  early  in  the  sixteenth  century,  Bishop 
Fox  reared  his  soaring  altar  piece  against  them. 

The  choir  of  Southwark  Cathedral  is  an  admirable 
example  of  delicate  Early  English  work,  and  of  the 
skill  shown  by  thirteenth-century  architects  who  have 
made  a  small  building  look  large  by  the  subdivision 
of  the  parts  in  detail.  The  arches  dividing  the  choir 
from  its  aisles  are  only  about  twelve  feet  wide,  and  yet 
the  triforium  is  an  arcade  of  four  divisions.  The 
main  columns  also  may  be  noticed  as  extremely  good 
in  their  design ;  alternately  circular  and  octagonal, 
some  have  delicate  shafts,  others  corbelled  shafts  at 
their  cardinal  points.*  The  four  eastern  chapels  are 
still  very  charming,  and  though  the  whole  of  the 
eastern  arm  of  St  Saviour's  was  subjected  to  a  well- 
meant  but  somewhat  clumsy  restoration  very  early 
in  the  last  century,  from  the  designs  of  Gwilt,  some  of 
its  mouldings — e.g.  those  of  the  capitals  and  of  the 
groining  ribs — deserve  study.  If  carefully  looked  at, 
a  great  difference  is  noticeable  between  the  groining 

*  The  octagonal  columns  have  their  obtuse  sides  much  narrower 
than  their  cardinal  ones.  The  columns  with  corbelled  shafts 
attached  to  them  have  been  copied  in  a  striking  church  erected 
about  thirty-five  years  ago,  St  Augustine,  South  Bermondsey,  now 
in  the  diocese  of  Southwark. 

127 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

of  the  aisles — which  in  their  lowness  are  almost 
Romanesque — and  retro-choir,  and  that  of  the  choir 
itself.  In  the  former  the  diagonal  rib  is  a  semicircle, 
in  the  latter  it  is  a  pointed  arch.  The  former  is  much 
more  agreeable,  for  the  eye  is  carried  forward  from  one 
rib  to  the  next  without  a  violent  pause,  and  this  is  in 
every  way  better  in  effect. 

I  alluded  in  a  former  page  to  St  Patrick's  Cathedral, 
Dublin.  Coeval  with  Salisbury,  the  ground-plan  of 
St  Patrick's  Cathedral  survives  in  its  ancient  lines  in 
perfection  of  symmetry  and  proportions  as  it  was 
originally  cast  by  its  designer,  about  1225.  As  a 
study  on  paper,  the  ground-plan  of  St  Patrick's  is  of 
singular  beauty  of  proportion  and  perfect  symmetry, 
of  which  there  is  no  similar  example  in  England.  It 
reveals  itself  as  the  design  of  a  mathematical  mind, 
which  arrived  at  the  proportions  of  a  Latin  cross  by 
the  placing  together  a  number  of  absolutely  uniform 
equilateral  triangles,  which  are  found  to  agree  in 
indicating  the  width  and  proportions  of  every  main 
feature.  The  choir,  nave,  and  transepts  present  in 
plan  a  perfect  cross.  The  aisles  of  the  four  limbs 
which  surrounded  this,  extended  on  the  same  accurate 
system  of  triangulation,  present  another  proportion  of 
a  Latin  cross  of  no  less  beauty,  the  repeated  dimension 
of  sixteen  feet  being  evident  as  a  factor  in  the 
proportion  of  every  feature  of  its  plan. 

At  Gloucester  the  Norman  side  chapels  of  the  apse 
were  not  removed  when  great  alterations  took  place  in 
that  cathedral  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries,  but  were  transmuted  into  Perpendicular. 
The  central  or  Lady  Chapel  of  the  apse  was,  however, 

128 


(   III   k<    H    (  )!•'     SI.     OMKR. 

(Northern  French  Gothic  of  the  Thirteenth  Century.) 


Tn  face  p.   128. 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

entirely  removed,  and  a  very  long  square-ended  one 
substituted. 

At  Norwich,  the  least  altered  of  all  our  Norman 
cathedrals  as  regards  its  ground-plan,  the  original 
Lady  Chapel  was  rebuilt  in  the  thirteenth  century. 
The  arch  of  entrance  to  this  chapel  still  remains,  but 
the  building  was  destroyed  by  Dean  Gardiner  in  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth.  Its  foundations,  proving  it  to 
have  been  of  large  size,  have  been  traced,  as  well  as 
those  of  its  predecessor,  which  was  circular,  like  the 
existing  side  chapels  of  Jesus  and  St  Luke. 

Quite  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  a  large 
chapel,  equal  in  width  to  the  choir  and  its  aisles,  was 
built  behind  the  apse  of  Peterborough  Cathedral. 
The  main  apse  was  but  little  disturbed,  but  the  end 
walls  of  the  aisles  were  removed  to  give  access  to  it. 
This  was  not  built  for  a  Lady  Chapel.  At  Peter- 
borough (as  at  Ely  still)  the  Lady  Chapel  was  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  north  transept,  into  which  it 
opened  by  two  arches.  It  was  an  Early  English 
structure  of  beautiful  character,  and  was  demolished 
for  the  sake  of  the  materials,  in  order  to  repair  the 
damage  done  to  the  cathedral  during  the  Civil  Wars. 

At  St  David's  the  chapels  beyond  the  choir  were 
not  extended  until  late  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and 
the  work  was  effected  in  a  very  singular  way.  The 
east  ends  of  the  Early  English  choir  and  its  aisles  were 
left  untouched,  but  doorways  were  made  in  those  of 
the  latter  which  were  prolonged  beyond  the  east  end 
of  the  choir  to  a  distance  sufficient  to  allow  a  space  of 
fifteen  feet  from  west  to  east.  Beyond  this  a  connect- 
ing aisle  was  built  forming  a  passage  to  the  Lady 

129  I 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Chapel,  and  opening  into  the  aisle  at  its  north  and 
south  ends  by  two  very  beautiful  pointed  arches.     The 
oblong  space  thus  left  between  the  east  wall  of  the 
choir  and  the  passage  to  the  Lady  Chapel  appears  to 
have  remained  open  until  the  time  of  Bishop  Vaughan 
(1509-1522),  for  it  is  described  then  as  "  vilissimus 
sive  sordissimus  locus   in  tota  ecclesia."     One  can 
only  account  for  this  hiatus  between  the  main  building 
and  the  Lady  Chapel  by  supposing  that  the  architect 
of  this  eastern  extension  at  St  David's  was  an  extra- 
ordinarily conservative  person,   with  scruples  abaut 
disturbing  the  square  end  of  the  choir  by  piercing  it 
with  a  connecting  arch  or  arches  as  in  the  cathedrals 
before   alluded   to.     On    taking   the  matter   in   hand 
Bishop  Vaughan  removed  the  glass  from  the  three 
lancets  at  the  east  end  of  the  choir,  filling  them  up 
with    masonry,*    and    to   the    walls    of   the    hitherto 
unoccupied  space  behind  it  he  added  a  clerestory  and 
a   vaulted    roof,    by    which   means    a    structure    was 
obtained     which     has     always     been     styled     Bishop 
Vaughan 's  Chapel.     The  Perpendicular  work  here  is 
late  but  good ;  the  fan  vaulting  is  excellent,  and  the 
windows    in    the    clerestory,    with    their   triangular- 
headed   lights   and  arches   are   pleasing  examples   of 
the  style,   as  are  the  light  open   screens  with  their 
eccentrically    placed   doorways,    which   fence   off   the 
chapel  from  the  aisle  on  either  side  of  it.     The  work 
in  the  Lady  Chapel  and  the  passages  connecting  it  with 
the  aisles  of  the  choir  is  geometrical  Decorated,  and, 
for  a  long  time  after  the  restoration  of  the  main  fabric 
had  been  completed,  lay  roofless  and  almost  in  ruins. 

*  These  wall  spaces  are  now  filial  \vith  subjects  in  mosaic. 

130 


Within  recent  years  the  reparation  of  these  outlying 
parts  has  been  judiciously  effected,  and  they  now  unite 
in  composing  an  architectural  group  of  the  highest 
beauty  and  interest. 

There  was,  however,  another  method  which  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  twelfth,  and  throughout  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries,  was  destined  materially  to 
affect  the  character  of  almost  all  the  chief  churches 
of  England.  The  eastern  limb  of  a  cathedral  or 
monastic  church,  as  originally  planned  by  its  Norman 
architects,  was  in  most  cases  of  very  moderate  length. 
The  fact  was  that  existing  requirements  did  not  render 
any  considerable  space  at  the  east  end  necessary. 
The  area  under  the  central  tower  afforded  abundant 
room  for  the  ritual  choir  and  the  ordinary  services  of 
the  Hours,  while  the  three  or  four  bays  that  inter- 
posed between  the  tower  and  the  apse  gave  room 
enough  for  all  that  was  wanted  to  add  dignity  to  the 
Eucharistic  celebration. 

In  the  centre  of  the  chord  of  the  apse  stood  the  high 
altar,  behind  which,  in  the  middle  of  the  curve,  was 
the  seat  of  the  bishop  ;  it  may  still  be  seen  in  the 
apse  of  Norwich,  and  in  a  more  perfect  form  at  the 
Cathedral  of  Torcello,  near  Venice.  On  either  side 
of  the  high  altar  rose  the  shrines  of  such  saints, 
greater  or  lesser,  whose  relics  the  Church  had  the 
good  fortune  to  call  her  own.*  But  as  years  rolled 


*  At  Canterbury,  the  shrine  of  St  Elphage  was  placed  on  the 
north  of  the  high  altar,  that  of  St  Dunstau  on  the  south,  with 
their  respective  altars  to  the  west  of  the  shrine.  At  Worcester 
the  shrine  of  St  Oswald  stood  in  advance  of  the  high  altar  to  the 
north,  and  that  of  the  sainted  Bishop  Wnlstan  to  the  south.  The 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

on,  these  hallowed  treasures  increased  in  number  and 
attractiveness.  The  tombs  of  departed  saints  became 
the  accredited  centres  of  miraculous  agencies,  and 
drew  to  themselves  ever-increasing  crowds  of  devotees, 
desiring  not  only  an  interest  in  the  holy  man's  inter- 
cessions, but,  still  more,  a  share  in  the  physical 
benefits  of  which  his  remains  were  supposed  to  be  the 
divinely  appointed  channels  to  suffering  humanity. 
To  accommodate  these  vast  throngs,  as  well  as  to 
afford  space  for  the  due  exhibition  of  the  objects  of 
their  veneration,  a  greatly  enlarged  eastern  limb  was 
required ;  and  in  one  cathedral  and  great  church  after 
another  we  find  the  same  process  of  eastern  extension 
gone  through,  and  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
same  object.  It  matters  little  what  cathedral  it  is  to 
which  our  inquiry  is  directed,  the  result  is  the  same. 
Wherever  the  fabric  has  been  elongated  to  the  east, 
an  examination  of  the  documentary  history  will  show 
that  the  motive  was  identical,  the  necessity  for 
increased  shrine  room,  and  an  enlarged  area  for  the 
reception  of  the  worshippers  of  the  local  saint,  as  e.g. 
St  Etheldreda  at  Ely,  St  Thomas  at  Canterbury,  St 
Wulstan  and  St  Oswald  at  Worcester,  St  Cuthbert  at 
Durham,  St  William  at  York,  St  Hugh  at  Lincoln, 
St  Werburgh  at  Chester,  St  Chad  at  Lichfield,  St 
William  of  Perth  at  Rochester,  St  Alban  at  Verulam, 
St  Erkenwald  at  Old  St  Paul's,  and  so  on. 

very  unsaiiitly  John  Lackland  found  his  resting-place  between  the 
holy  men,  "  that,"  said  the  chronicler,  "  the  saying  of  Merlin 
might  be  verified,  '  lie  shall  be  placed  between  the  saints.'  '  On 
either  side  the  high  altar  of  Tonrnai  Cathedral  is  the  beautiful 
mediaeval  shrine  of  a  saint  of  local  celebrity— St  Eleuthenus 
(Eloy)  and  St  Peter  the  Martyr. 

132 


MAGDF.IU   R(,    CATIIKUKAI.. 

Gothic    of    the    Thirteenth    Century.) 


To  face  p.   132. 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

This  fact,  which  has  hardly  received  the  promin- 
ence due  to  its  importance,  also  affords  an  explanation 
of  the  enlargements  received  by  our  cathedrals  being, 
almost  without  exception,  confined  to  the  eastern 
limb,  and  the  chapels  grouped  about  it.  In  almost 
every  instance  the  nave  occupies  the  same  ground,  if 
it  be  not  actually  the  same  fabric,  as  that  originally 
built  by  the  Normans ;  while  there  are  but  seven 
instances — Winchester,  Gloucester,  Durham,  Here- 
ford, Norwich,  Oxford,  and  Peterborough — in  which 
the  walls  of  the  choir  have  not  received  eastward 
elongation,  and  in  all  of  these,  with  the  single 
exception  of  Oxford,  chapels  have  been  added  still 
farther  to  the  east. 

The  first  impulse  in  the  direction  of  this  eastward 
enlargement  of  our  great  Norman  churches  proceeded 
most  naturally  from  the  same  quarter  in  which  the 
first  example  of  a  Norman  cathedral  was  given — the 
Metropolitan  Church  of  Canterbury. 

The  eastern  limb  of  Lanfranc's  Church  very  soon 
proved  inadequate  for  the  requirements  of  the 
brethren,  and  about  A.D.  1093,  within  twenty  years 
of  its  completion,  it  was  pulled  down  by  the  prior  and 
monks  of  the  monastery,  at  the  instance  or  at  least 
with  the  approbation  of  his  successor — Anselm.  The 
work  was  begun  by  Prior  Ernulf,  and  finished  by 
Prior  Conrad. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  Ernulf  should  undertake 
a  work  apparently  so  lavish  and  so  wild,  as  pulling 
down  the  eastern  limb  of  a  cathedral  seven  years  after 
its  completion,  but  the  probability  is  that  this  was 
done  owing  to  the  extreme  shortness  of  the  eastern 

133 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

limb  of  Lanfranc's  church,  which  was  only  (as  in 
other  churches  of  Romanesque  date,  when  basilicas 
were  developing  into  mediaeval  cathedrals)  devoted  to 
the  purpose  of  the  sanctuary  merely,  the  choir  being 
under  the  great  tower.  The  days  of  St  Anselm  were 
those  of  extreme  ecclesiological  development.  The 
shadow  of  Gregory  VII.  had  passed  over  the  Western 
Church.  The  result  was  that  his  priors — Ernulf  and 
Conrad — pulled  down  the  Lanfrancian  sanctuary,  and 
showed  the  English  Church  the  first  instance  of  a 
long  eastern  limb,  in  which  both  choir  and  presbytery 
were  placed  eastward  of  the  great  tower. 

So  extensive  was  this  development  that  the  area  of 
Canterbury  Cathedral  was  nearly  doubled  by  it,  "  and 
as  no  ruin,  fire,  or  other  casualty  has  been  recorded, 
it  must  be  assumed  that  the  sole  reason  for  this  change 
was  that  the  monks  did  not  think  their  church  large 
enough  for  the  importance  of  their  monastery ;  and 
above  all — and  this  we  cannot  doubt  was  the  leading 
motive — that  they  wanted  shrine  room  for  the  display 
of  the  relics  they  had  so  assiduously  collected ;  and 
also  for  the  proper  disposition  of  their  ancient  arch- 
bishops, most  of  whom  appear  to  have  received 
canonisation."* 

The  ground-plan  of  Canterbury  choir  as  recon- 
structed under  Anselm — "  the  glorious  choir  of 
Conrad  "  as  it  was  styled  by  Gervase — given  by 
Professor  Willis,  enables  us  at  a  glance  to  realise  the 
prodigious  stride  taken  by  Prior  Ernulf,  and  followed, 
though  somewhat  tardily,  by  successive  generations 
of  church  builders.  Instead  of  the  short  construc- 

*  Willis,    "Architectural    History    of    Canterbury    Cathedral." 

134 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

tional  choir,  hardly  ever  exceeding  four  bays,  and 
often  having  a  smaller  number,  we  see  a  choir  of  no 
less  than  nine  bays  to  the  springing  of  the  apse ;  and 
the  apse  itself,  not  a  mere  semicircular  wall,  but  a 
graceful  chevet  of  five  arches  opening  into  the  aisle, 
continued  as  a  procession  path  round  it.  We  remark 
also  the  appearance  of  a  new  feature — borrowed  in  all 
probability  from  the  great  Abbey  Church  (now  alas 
almost  totally  destroyed)  at  Cluny — viz.  a  second  or 
eastern  transept  of  greater  projection  than  the  tran- 
septs of  the  original  Norman  churches,  each  with  two 
apsidal  chapels  attached  to  the  east  wall. 

Later  on  this  double  transept  found  its  full  develop- 
ment in  the  successor  of  Conrad's  choir  at  Canterbury ; 
in  the  Cathedrals  of  Salisbury,  Worcester,  Lincoln, 
Rochester,  and  the  minster  at  Beverley.*  At  York 
it  seems  to  have  formed  part  of  the  plan  of  the  choir 
rebuilt  by  Archbishop  Roger  (1070-1100),  but  its 
projection  was  small,  and  it  was  virtually  lost,  when 
another  rebuilding  (that  of  the  present  choir)  took 
place  in  Perpendicular  times  (1361-1400)  in  the 
increased  breadth  of  the  aisles. 

This  eastern  transept  appears  also  in  the  ground- 
plans  of  Hereford  and  Wells,  where,  however,  it  is 
only  co-extensive  in  height  with  the  aisles.  A  tran- 
sept at  the  extreme  east  is  a  remarkable  feature  at 
Durham  and  Fountains  Abbey.  A  western  transept, 

*  With  the  exception  of  Cluny,  the  eastern  or  choir  transept 
seems  never  to  have  been  adopted  in  France,  the  only  instance 
of  it  with  which  I  am  acquainted  occurring  in  the  choir  of  the 
grand  Church  at  St  Ouentin  in  Picardy,  a  building  almost  rivalling 
Amiens  in  its  prodigious  height. 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

formed  by  the  bases  of  the  western  towers  and 
appended  chapels,  exists  at  Lincoln,  Peterborough, 
Wells,  and  partially  at  Lichfield.  The  grandest 
example  of  the  western  transept  branching  from  a 
tower  is  that  presented  by  Ely.  In  Germany,  and 
particularly  in  the  Rhine  provinces,  the  western 
transept  is  one  of  the  most  striking  features  in  many 
of  those  imposing  '  transitional  '  churches,  built 
early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  as  e.g.  St  Cunibert's, 
the  Holy  Apostles'  and  St  Andrew's  at  Cologne, 
St  Quirinus  at  Neuss,  and  by  a  prolongation  of  the 
aisles  to  the  front  of  the  short  limb  westward  of  the 
western  tower  at  Werden. 

To  return  from  this  digression  to  Conrad's  choir 
at  Canterbury.  The  apse  was  flanked  with  two  towers 
bearing  the  names  of  St  Andrew  and  St  Anselm,  with 
eastern  apses  containing  altars.  The  whole  term- 
inated in  a  square-ended  chapel,  dedicated  to  the  Holy 
Trinity.  The  large  number  of  altars — many  of  them 
enshrining  relics  of  peculiar  sanctity,  and  tombs  of 
canonised  archbishops — demonstrate  the  motives 
which  led  to  this  immense  extension  of  the  church 
both  in  length  and  area.  On  the  5th  of  September, 
1174 — forty-four  years  after  its  solemn  dedication  in 
the  presence  of  Henry  I.  of  England,  David  of  Scot- 
land, and  all  the  English  bishops,  in  1130 — this  new 
choir  of  Ernulf  and  Conrad  was  so  seriously  damaged 
by  the  disastrous  fire  vividly  described  by  Gervase, 
that  it  became  necessary  to  rebuild  it.  The  shattered 
walls  were  retained  as  far  as  possible,  but  they  were 
considerably  heightened,  a  vault  of  stone  was  thrown 
over  the  central  alley,  as  a  safeguard  against  future 

136 


OS    c 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

conflagrations,   and  it  again  received   a  considerable 
addition  of  length. 

The  architect  at  first  employed  was  William  of 
Sens.  After  he  had  been  crippled  by  a  fall  from  a 
scaffold  in  the  fifth  year  of  the  work,  another  William, 
distinguished  from  his  predecessor  as  "  William  the 
Englishman,"  was  called  in,  and  by  him  the  work  was 
brought  to  a  conclusion,  though  no  doubt  the  whole 
design  had  been  conceived  by  William  of  Sens,  the 
other  William  merely  carrying  it  out.  The  proba- 
bility is  that  had  the  Sens  architect  been  allowed 
a  free  hand  he  would  have  introduced  that  elegant 
arrangement  of  coupled  columns  that  we  see  in  the 
eastern  part  of  Canterbury,  and  throughout  the 
cathedral  of  his  native  city ;  but  the  columns  of  Conrad 
and  Ernulf's  choir  were  found  sufficiently  firm  to  be 
used  in  the  new  work,  so  William  of  Sens  heightened 
them  very  considerably,  crowned  them  with  graceful 
Corinthianesque  capitals,  added  a  second  series  of 
windows  to  the  aisles,  and  erected  the  present  triforium 
and  clerestory.  This  design  was  continued  until  he 
reached  the  new  extension — the  chapel  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,  behind  the  high  altar  where,  finding  himself 
unfettered,  the  architect  introduced  the  coupled 
column,  and  thus  gave  to  the  whole  that  appearance 
of  resemblance  to  the  interior  of  Sens  which  must 
strike  every  visitor  to  that  noble  old  Champenois 
Cathedral.  It  must,  however,  be  remarked  that  the 
details  in  the  choir  of  Canterbury  are  much  more 
refined  than  at  Sens,  and  so  we  are  in  possession  of  an 
example  of  the  "  transitional  "  period  of  architecture 
unequalled  for  grace  and  refinement  by  any  of  its 

137 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

French  contemporaries.  The  eastern  transepts  of 
Canterbury  are  perhaps  unrivalled  for  these  qualities  ; 
indeed  they  may  be  considered  the  most  beautiful 
portion  of  the  whole  cathedral,  whose  choir  as  we  now 
see  it  was  brought  to  completion  in  the  incredibly 
short  space  of  ten  years,  viz.  in  1184,  under  the 
English  William. 

The  motive  for  this  second  elongation  of  the  cHoir 
of  Canterbury,  by  the  addition  of  the  Trinity  Chapel, 
was  to  do  honour  to  the  great  saint  with  whose  name 
the  city  was  to  be  henceforth  inseparably  connected. 
At  the  extreme  east  end  stood  the  chapel  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,  where  Becket  celebrated  his  first  Mass,  and, 
in  the  crypt  beneath,  his  body  was  first  interred. 
Thus  the  ruling  idea  of  the  rebuilders  of  the  church 
was  not  merely  to  secure  the  honourable  collocation 
of  the  lesser  and  older  relics  of  the  church,  but  much 
more,  to  provide  a  fitting  shrine  for  their  greater  and 
more  recent  treasure,  through  which  they  were  daily 
obtaining  those  vast  pecuniary  resources  that  alone 
would  have  enabled  them  to  rebuild  the  church  on  Its 
present  splendid  scale. 

The  temptation  to  linger  over  this  most  interesting 
page  in  the  history  of  our  cathedrals  is  great,  but  it 
has  been  ably  elucidated,  both  in  its  historical  and 
constructional  aspects,  by  the  pens  of  such  masters  in 
their  respective  arts  as  Dean  Stanley  and  Professor 
Willis,  and  I  must  hasten  forward  to  consider  the  still 
mightier  changes  which  in  so  short  a  time  were  to 
transform  portions  of  our  old  Norman  cathedrals  into 
the  aspect  with  which  we  are  familiar  to-day. 

The  works  of  the  two  Williams  at  Canterbury  were 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

examples  of  the  transitional  style,  in  which  the  sterner 
features  of  Norman  architecture  were  gradually  soften- 
ing into  the  pure  Gothic,  in  its  first  or  "  Early 
English  "  type. 

The  two  earliest  known  works  in  which  this 
exquisite  style  was  adopted,  without  any  admixture 
of  the  Norman  influence,  either  in  form,  details,  or 
moulding,  are,  as  already  mentioned,  St  Hugh's 
choir  at  Lincoln — some  particulars  of  whose  eastern 
termination  have  been  given — and  the  western  part  of 
the  choir  of  Wells.  On  his  appointment  to  the  See  of 
Lincoln  in  1186,  Hugh  found  his  church  rent  from 
top  to  bottom  by  an  earthquake  that  had  occurred  the 
preceding  year.  This  church,  as  I  have  had  occasion 
to  remark,  was  a  Norman  one,  built  on  virgin  soil,  like 
the  Early  English  Salisbury  two  hundred  years  later, 
by  Remigius,  the  first  Norman  bishop,  and  completed 
at  his  death  in  1092. 

It  had  passed  through  the  usual  vicissitudes  of  fire 
and  storm  and  human  violence,  and  had  received  the 
important  addition  of  a  stone  vault  and  western  towers 
from  Bishop  Alexander  between  1125  and  1148.  The 
new  prelate,  one  of  the  very  greatest  and  noblest  of 
English  bishops  of  any  age,  at  once  determined  to 
rebuild  the  shattered  fabric.  He  called  to  his  side  an 
architect,  Geoffrey  of  Noyers,  who,  in  spite  of  his 
French  name,  may  well  have  been  a  thorough  born 
and  bred  Englishman,  with  three  or  four  generations 
of  English  parents  before  him,  and  began  where  the 
rebuilder  of  mediaeval  churches  always  did  begin — 
with  the  eastern  arm.  His  plan  embraced  an  aisled 
choir  of  four  bays,  an  eastern  transept,  with  two 

139 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

apsidal  chapels  in  each  arm,  as  at  Canterbury,  and  a 
large  chevet  or  apse,  the  foundations  of  which  are 
known  still  to  exist  beneath  the  pavement  of  the 
present  Angel  Choir.  The  whole  is  vaulted  in  stone. 
It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  section  of  the  work  to 
enter  into  architectural  details,  but  I  cannot  refrain 
from  expressing  admiration  at  the  dignified  simplicity 
of  the  whole  work,  the  largeness  of  treatment,  and  the 
vigorous  originality  of  conception  with  which  the 
entire  design  of  St  Hugh's  choir  at  Lincoln  was  con- 
ceived and  executed.  All  demands  our  highest 
admiration,  and  this  great  work  stands  clearly  at  the 
head,  as  well  in  point  of  time  as  of  excellence,  of  all 
the  works  of  the  lancet  period  of  English  architecture. 
St  Hugh's  plan  involved  a  considerable  extension  of 
the  Norman  choir,  which  appears  to  have  been  of  very 
small  dimensions  and  aisleless,  and  provided  a  large 
increase  of  chapel  room. 

In  some  other  of  our  larger  churches  the  eastern 
additions  are  of  the  full  height  of  the  choir  itself,  an 
arrangement  which,  if  wanting  in  the  picturesqueness 
created  by  the  grouping  of  the  pillars  and  arches  of 
the  lower  aisles,  is  greatly  superior  in  stately 
grandeur. 

The  most  remarkable  instances  of  this  arrangement 
are  (to  omit  Canterbury,  of  which  some  description 
has  been  given)  Worcester,  Beverley,  Rochester, 
Ripon,  Southwell,  Ely,  Lincoln,  Carlisle,  Lichficld, 
Bristol,  and  York.  Old  St  Paul's,  built  on  the  same 
plan,  seems  to  have  exceeded  them  all  in  size  and 
magnificence.  At  Chichester,  Chester,  and  Wells, 
the  choir  was  elongated  in  maintaining  the  same 

140 


r.a  ».•<•,•     Pi  KM    ^   rt.c  CMDIK    '(    SAllSfrlNtf    r»lMS»«»i. 


f.KOfXD-I'I.AXS  1)1''    KNT.I.ISH   CATIIICDKAI.  CHOIRS. 


To  face  p.   140. 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

elevation,  and  a  lower  Lady  Chapel  added,  under 
circumstances  already  alluded  to,  beyond  it. 

It  was  that  outburst  of  devotion  towards  the  Virgin 
Mary  which  took  place  under  the  pontificate  of 
Innocent  III.  (1198-1226)  that  gave  rise  to  this 
architectural  development  of  our  cathedral  choirs  in 
one  or  other  of  the  two  forms  which  I  have  endeavoured 
to  render  clear.  Sometimes  this  eastern  extension  was 
shared  by  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the  saint  of  local 
celebrity — as  at  Lincoln,  Lichfield,  York,  and 
Worcester,  their  shrines  being  placed  behind  the 
high  altar,  which  was  never  at  the  extreme  east  end, 
but  so  placed  that  there  should  be  several  bays  behind 
it,  and  in  every  case  save  one  the  eastern  termination 
was  square,  and  lighted  either  by  one  large  window 
or  by  two  tiers  of  lancets,  in  groups  of  three,  fourt  or 
five. 

The  square  east  end  is  the  most  marked  peculiarity 
of  our  national  church  architecture.  It  may  almost 
be  said  that  there  are  no  square-ended  churches  except 
in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  none  but  square- 
ended  churches  here.*  The  number  of  churches 
with  square  east  ends  throughout  the  whole  of 
Christendom  (excepting  the  British  Isles)  is  exceed- 

*  In  the  architecture  of  vScotland  there  are  many  peculiarities 
approximating  in  some  degree  to  a  foreign,  and  particularly  a 
French,  character,  accounted  for  by  the  intimate  connection  that 
long  existed  between  that  country  and  France;  while  she  was 
almost  always  at  enmity  with  England ;  but  I  am  not  aware  that 
the  French  form  of  east  end  was  ever  employed.  On  the  contrary 
the  great  churches  of  Scotland  seem  to  have  been  always  ter- 
minated rectangularly,  and  this,  is  certainly  the  case  at  St 
Andrews,  Dunblane,  Dunfermline,  Dunkelcl,  Elgin,  Glasgow, 
Mel  rose  and  Paisley. 

141 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

ingly  small.  It  is  this  fact  that  gives  to  the  universal 
prevalence  of  this  type  in  our  own  country  its  especial 
and  unique  importance.  The  tradition  is  carried 
back  to  a  date  earlier  than  the  Middle  Ages,  by  the 
small  churches  or  oratories  of  Ireland,  and  the 
supposed  British  church  at  Peranzabulee  in  Cornwall. 
The  prevalence  in  these  isles  at  that  early  date  of  a 
type  of  church  different  in  a  most  significant  manner 
from  the  types  prevailing  both  in  the  Latin  and  Greek 
communions  is  a  most  singular  fact.  It  is  the  more 
remarkable  when  we  consider  to  what  a  great  extent 
the  existing  Christianity  of  England  is  due  directly 
to  the  labours  of  Latin  missionaries,  who  brought 
with  them,  as  we  know  by  the  accounts  of  the  first 
cathedral  erected  at  Canterbury,  the  basilican  plan 
with  its  apsidal  end. 

From  the  chapel  at  Peranzabulee,  and  from  the 
square-ended  early  Irish  churches,  which,  whatever 
be  their  date,  certainly  show  little  or  nothing  of  the 
Latin  influences,  we  must,  I  think,  infer  that  the 
square  east  end  was  the  prevalent  type  in  these 
islands  before  the  overthrow  of  British  Christianity 
by  the  Saxons.  We  may  conclude  from  this,  as  from 
other  reasons,  that  British  Christianity  was  not  so 
utterly  enfeebled  as  has  often  been  represented,  and 
that  its  own  peculiar  traditions  survived  and  leavened 
to  a  considerable  extent  the  great  revival  which  the 
Latin  missionaries  effected. 

The  square-end  tradition  had  a  second  great  struggle 
for  existence  at  the  Conquest.  The  Normans  natur- 
ally introduced  the  Continental  fashion — a  fashion 
which  the  Confessor  had  already  followed  at  West- 

142 


U 


. 

I! 
It 


£    ** 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

minster  Abbey.  It  is  not  improbable  that  most  of 
the  Saxon  churches,  which  have  apses,  date  from  his 
reign.  The  apse  became  almost  everywhere  the  rule 
as  long  as  the  influence  of  the  Norman  clergy  and 
nobility  remained  fresh  and  distinct ;  but  no  sooner 
had  the  conquerors  begun  to  coalesce  with  the  con- 
quered, and  the  conquest  become  gradually  tided 
over,  than  the  square  east  end  began  slowly  but 
steadily  to  gain  upon  its  rival.  By  the  thirteenth 
century  its  triumph  was  complete,  and  although  we 
have  in  Westminster  Abbey  one  of  the  most  complete 
and  beautiful  specimens  of  the  type  in  Christendom, 
the  circumstance  of  its  rebuilding  and  the  French 
tastes  of  Henry  III.,  of  which  mention  has  already 
been  made,  render  it  clearly  an  exceptional  case. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  language  spoken  in 
that  monastery  was,  as  Abbot  Ware  tells  us  in  his 
"  Customal,"  neither  Latin  nor  English,  but  French. 
A  tradition  so  ancient  and  remarkable,  one  peculiar 
to  the  English  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
connected  in  all  probability  with  its  very  earliest 
origin,  is  deserving  surely  of  all  respect,  and  ought 
never  to  have  been  abandoned,  as  it  has  too  often  in 
our  own  day,  to  a  mere  feverish  craving  after  novelty, 
or  to  the  affectations  of  a  travelled  dilletantism. 

There  is,  of  course,  much  to  be  said  in  favour  of 
the  employment  of  an  apse  when  exigencies  of  site 
demand  it,  or  when  a  church  is  designed  in  a  style 
foreign  to  our  shores ;  and  that  its  resources  have 
been  tried  by  architects  of  distinction,  may  be  proved 
by  those  who  have  visited  such  noble  creations  of  the 
last  century  as  St  Mary's,  Stoke  Newington,  one  of 

"  143 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Sir  Gilbert  Scott's  masterpieces;  St  James  the  Less, 
Westminster,  and  St  Mary  Magdalene's,  Padding- 
ton,  by  Street;  St  Peter's,  Vauxhall,  and  St  Agnes, 
Liverpool,  by  Pearson  ;  St  Chad's,  Haggerston,  and  St 
John  the  Baptist's,  Kensington,  by  Brooks.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  it  has  been  used,  as  it  too  frequently 
has,  as  a  termination  for  any  small  "  pattern 
district,"  or  modern  village  church,  in  styles  subse- 
quent to  that  of  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  (as  often  as  not)  with  a  raftered  roof  resting  upon 
the  strings  of  the  walls,  it  only  becomes  unmeaning 
and  unnational. 

Sir  Charles  Barry  was,  I  believe,  the  first  architect 
of  the  Gothic  revival  to  introduce  the  fashion  in  his 
Perpendicular  Church  of  St  Peter,  Brighton,  finished 
in  1824,  but  it  was  removed  a  few  y ears  ago  in  order 
to  extend  the  chancel,  which  now  terminates  in  a 
square  end. 

Of  small  Early  English  churches  having  apsidal 
chancels,  there  is  a  very  pretty  illustration  in 
Tidmarsh  Church,  Berkshire,  copied  about  half  a 
century  ago  in  the  little  church  at  Kidmore  End, 
Oxfordshire,  and  several  exist  in  Kent  and  Sussex. 

We  may  conclude  this  section  of  our  review  of  the 
architecture  of  the  thirteenth  century  with  a  glance 
at  the  apses  of  other  nations. 

In  France  the  apse,  whether  semicircular  or  pent- 
agonal, with  its  procession  patli  and  corona  of  chapels, 
had  existed  from  the  Romanesque  period,  but  carried 
out  in  the  manner  peculiar  to  the  people  of  the 
province  in  which  it  found  its  home.  Thus  in  the 
Romanesque  churches  of  Poitou  we  usually  find  only 

144 


ST.     MAURICE,    VIENXE. 


To  face  p.   144. 


THE    APSE,    ST.    HILAIRE,    POITIERS. 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

four  semicircular  chapels  around  the  via  processionfim, 
as  e.g.  St  Hilaire  and  St  Jean  at  Poitiers ;  the  same 
rule  being  followed  in  churches  of  the  same  period  in 
Auvergne — Notre  Dame  du  Port  at  Clermont  Ferrand, 
and  those  at  Brioude,  Issoire,  St  Nectaire,  etc. 

In  the  district  called  the  Angoumois — now  the  de- 
partment of  La  Charente  of  which  Angouleme  is  the 
centre,  the  apse  ordinarily  has  no  aisle,  but  (usually 
three)  small  chapels  debouch  into  it.  In  Burgundy 
and  the  adjacent  Lyonnais  and  Dauphine,  the  aisle- 
less  apse  was  much  in  vogue,  as  for  instance  in 
the  cathedrals  of  Autun  and  Lyons,  Notre-Dame 
at  Dijon,  St  Etienne,  Chalon-sur-Saone,  and  St 
Maurice,  Vienne.  All  these  churches  were  rebuilt 
at  various  times  in  the  transitional  and  complete 
Gothic  epochs  on,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  the  founda- 
tions of  the  Romanesque  apses.  Occasionally  in 
Burgundy  and  in  the  more  southern  provinces  of 
Languedoc  and  Gascony,  we  find  the  complete  chevet 
in  Romanesque  churches  like  Paray-le-Monial, 
Conques,  Tournus,  and  St  Sernin  at  Toulouse. 

The  vast  abbey  church  at  Cluny  was  thus  termin- 
ated, i.e.  with  procession  path  and  five  chapels,  not 
however  adjacent,  opening  from  it.  In  Champagne, 
one  chapel  opening  from  the  circumambient  aisle  was 
common  as  at  Sens,*  and  on  the  confines  of  the 
adjacent  Burgundy,  at  Auxerre. 

The  Norman  Cathedral  of  Rouen  was  in  all 
probability  planned  with  only  three  apsidal  chapels, 
but  with  others  opening  from  the  eastern  sides  of  the 

*  Three  chapels  now  open  from  the  via  procession-Am  at  Sena, 
but  the  two  lateral  ones  are  eighteenth-century  excrescences. 

145  K 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

transepts,  and  this  plan  was  followed  when  the  cathe- 
dral was  rebuilt  at  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century.*  Thus  the  plan  so  produced  by  French 
architects  in  Romanesque  times  was  never  lost  sight 
of  by  them,  but  was  skilfully  developed  into  a  variety 
of  beautiful  forms  which,  by  the  juxtaposition  of 
these  apsidal  chapels — grouping  them  into  fives  and 
occasionally  into  sevens — assumed  such  elegant  con- 
tours in  the  great  Gothic  cathedrals  of  Amiens, 
Beauvais,  Bayeux,  Chartres,  Coutances,  Le  Mans, 
Meaux,  Noyon,  Rheims,  Senlis,  Soissons,  Tours 
and  Troyes  :  and  when  the  first  half  of  that  century 
had  gone  by,  the  same  plan  was  accepted  by  people 
in  the  provinces  south  of  that  important  architectural 
boundary  line — the  Loire — in  districts  which  had 
long  been  impatient  of  the  northern  influence,  when 
they  rebuilt  their  Romanesque  choirs  at  Bordeaux 
and  Rodez  in  Guienne ;  Auch  and  Bayonne  in 
Gascony ;  Toulouse  in  Languedoc ;  Clermont  Ferrand 
in  Auvergne  and  Limoges  in  Limousin. 

In    the    north-eastern     French     provinces     where 


*  The  Norman  Church  of  St  Etienne  (the  Abbaye  aux  Homines) 
at  Caen  had  only  a  very  short  choir  of  two  bays  terminating  in 
an  aisleless  apse,  the  aisles  being"  square-ended.  On  its  recon- 
struction before  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  in  one  of 
the  most  graceful  editions  of  the  Early  French  Gothic  style,  two 
more  bays  were  given  to  it,  and  the  aisleless  Norman  apse  was 
replaced  by  one  with  seven  pointed  arches  opening  into  the 
ambulatory,  from  which  as  many  chapels,  each  with  an  angle  in 
the  axis,  but  not  projecting  beyond  the  separating  buttresses, 
open  ;  thus  producing  on  the  ground-plan,  a  semicircle.  I  have 
already  alluded  to  the  plan  of  the  Norman  Church  of  St  Etienne 
as  having  been  identical  with  that  of  Lanfranc's  Cathedral  at 
Canterbury. 

146 


•-»     — 

-     OS 


a  x 

= 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

Teutonic  influence  was  felt,  the  aisleless  apse  is 
frequent,  as  at  St  Omer,  St  Maurice,  Lille,  and  St 
Gangoult,  Toul,  while  in  Belgium  where  the  archi- 
tecture may  be  said  to  present  an  admixture  of  the 
Gallic  and  Teutonic  elements,  allied  with  some  very 
striking  national  peculiarities,  we  find  both  forms  of 
eastern  termination,  often  in  the  same  town. 

The  true  French  chevet  is  illustrated  best  perhaps 
in  the  stupendous  choir  of  Tournai  Cathedral,  while 
pleasing  ones  (though  not  so  skilfully  planned)  occur 
at  Ste  Gudule,  Brussels,  Ste  Waudru,  Mons,  St 
Pierre,  Louvain,  St  Bavon,  Ghent,  St  Gommaire, 
Lierre,  and  the  cathedrals  of  Bruges  and  Malines. 
The  lofty  aisleless  apse  assumes  an  imposing  char- 
acter in  Notre-Dame  de  la  Chapelle  and  Notre-Dame 
du  Sablon  at  Brussels,  Ste  Croix,  St  Denis  and  St 
Jacques,  Liege,  in  the  churches  at  Vilvorde  and  Huy 
(two  of  the  finest  of  their  kind),  and  in  St  Martin, 
Courtrai . 

In  Germany,  where  the  Romanesque  churches 
almost  invariably  had  simple  aisleless  apses,*  the  same 
plan  was  reproduced  in  nearly  every  church  built  or 
rebuilt  in  that  country  between  the  middle  of  tha 
thirteenth  century  and  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth. 
Sometimes,  as  in  St  Elizabeth's  Church  at  Marburg 
in  Hesse,  St  Victor  at  Xanten  in  the  extreme  north- 
west, and  at  Ratisbon  in  Bavaria,  two,  or  three,  tiers 
of  windows  were  employed  to  light  these  tall  aisleless 
apses;  but  as  a  rule  we  find  one  window  in  each  side; 

*  It  was,  in  all  probability,  the  three-sided  apse  that  gave  rise 
to  that  feature,  almost  peculiarly  German,  the  carved  or  painted 
triptychal  altar  piece. 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

and  these  windows,  when  the  church  was  more  than 
ordinarily  lofty,  reached  exaggerated  dimensions,  as 
for  instance  in  the  apsidal  choirs  of  St  Sebald  at 
Nuremberg,  St  Lambert  at  Miinster,  the  Dom  at 
Erfurt,  and  St  Mary  in  the  Meadows  at  Soest.  One 
of  the  most  pleasingly  proportioned  apses  in  that 
exceedingly  rare  style  of  German  architecture — the 
pure  early  pointed  free  from  Romanesque  influence 
— is  the  western  one  of  the  Dom  at  Naumburg;  the 
western  ones  of  the  Cathedral  at  Bamberg  and  St 
Sebald  at  Nuremberg  are  likewise  elegant  illustrations 
of  their  age,  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
as  is  that  of  the  Church  of  St  Mary  at  Gelnhausen. 

The  two  best  and  most  artistic  applications  of  the 
French  chevet  in  Germany  are  seen  in  the  cathedral 
at  Cologne  and  the  Cistercian  Abbey  Church  at 
Altenberg,  but  as  a  rule  when  the  Germans  tried  the 
apse  with  its  procession  path  and  chapels  as  at  St 
Mary's,  Osnabriick,  Miinster,  and  Halberstadt  Cathe- 
drals ;  or  with  the  tall  unclerestoried  apse  and  an 
aisle  round  it  as  at  Nuremberg,  Werden,  and  the 
Great  St  Mary's  Church  at  Lippstadt,  they  did  not 
succeed  in  producing  a  harmonious  result. 

A  strict  regard  for  the  orientation  of  altars  may  be 
adduced  as  another  reason  for  this  Teutonic  rejection 
of  the  chevet,  which  could  not  be  observed  when  the 
French  form  was  adopted.  They  therefore  termin- 
ated their  choir  aisles  with  apses,  and  in  this  manner 
carried  on  the  old  Romanesque  parallel-triapsidal 
plan.  Sometimes  when,  as  at  Xanten,  the  church 
has  double  aisles,  we  find  each  aisle  terminated  in 
this  manner. 

148 


c  c 
u  t: 


Z    o 

C-£ 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

A  few  remarks  on  the  contemporary  architecture 
of  Germany  may  not  unfitly  find  a  place  here. 

There  are  some  peculiarities  in  the  dates  of  old 
German  work  which  are  rather  striking  in  compari- 
son with  English  and  French  works. 

We  have  there,  first  of  all,  a  few  buildings  such 
as  the  convent  at  Lorsch  which  are  said  to  be  and 
perhaps   are    of   Roman    design.     Then    next   there 
is    a    large    group   of   churches   of   which    those    in 
Cologne    and    the    Rhineland    are    the    most    dis- 
tinguished   examples,    which,    whilst    it   is    entirely 
unlike    anything   in    the    rest   of   Northern   Europe, 
has    a    most    remarkable    affinity    to    the    Lombard 
churches  in  the  north  of  Italy,  at  Pavia,  Bergamo, 
and    elsewhere.     These    churches    date    from    the 
early    part    of    the    twelfth    century,    and    continue 
with  but  little  alteration  of  importance  down  to  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth,  or  even  a  little  later,  when 
the  strange  spectacle  is  seen  of  a  style  almost  com- 
pletely Romanesque  in  character  suddenly  supplanted 
by  another  style  which,  as  far  as  can  be  seen,  in  no 
way  grew  out  of  it?  and  which  is  distinguished  from 
the  first  by  peculiarities  of  a  most  marked  kind,  and 
by  the  perfect  and  complete  form  which  it  at  once 
assumed.     Then  after  this  style,  which  again  in  its 
turn  retained  its  hold  longer  than  our  styles  ever  did, 
and  which  to  a  late  period  is  altered  only  slightly  in 
its  detail,  we  find  another  essentially  German  style 
answering  in  point  of  date  to  our  late  Perpendicular, 
and  to  French  Flamboyant. 

The  Germans  have  therefore  less  natural  growth 
to  show  in  their  architecture  than  we  have.     Instead 

149 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

of  our  beautiful  gradations  from  Norman  to  Perpen- 
dicular in  which  the  germ  of  each  development  is  to 
be  discovered  in  the  antecedent  work,  we  have  there  a 
series  of  breaks  or  gaps  in  the  chain  which  it  is  very 
difficult  to  account  for,  and  which  make  the  study  of 
German  Gothic  architecture  highly  interesting,  and 
at  the  same  time  somewhat  perplexing. 

The  question  seems  naturally  to  arise  whether  each 
of  these  new  styles  thus  wanting  in  evidence  of 
natural  growth  one  out  of  the  other,  is  to  be  looked  at 
as  a  German  invention  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  or 
as  the  result  of  the  sudden  conversion  of  a  slow  and 
sluggish  people  to  the  beauties  of  foreign  work,  and 
then  their  resolute  and  hearty  earnestness  in  the 
attempt  to  make  the  style  their  own  by  some  infusion 
of  national  peculiarities. 

I  incline  to  this  last  opinion  because  I  am  convinced 
that  no  style  was  ever  invented.  Architecture  has 
always  grown  gradually  and  systematically,  and  it  is 
quite  possible  to  imagine  that  Germany  may  have 
refused  to  follow  the  lead  of  France  and  England  in 
art  until  their  superiority  was  so  great  as  to  make  it 
an  absolute  matter  of  necessity,  and  that  then  an 
attempt  would  be  made  to  give  a  national  character  to 
what  they  had  in  the  first  place  borrowed. 

A  slight  comparison  of  dates  of  a  few  German 
churches  will  explain  my  grounds  for  speaking  as  I 
do  of  German  architecture. 

Of  the  Rhine  churches,  the  most  remarkable  are 
the  work  of  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
St  Quirinus  at  Neuss  was  commenced  in  1209, 
St  Gereon  at  Cologne,  begun  in  1205,  was  consecrated 


ST.   ELIZABETH'S  AT  MARBURG. 

(1235-1283.) 


To  face  p.  150. 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

in  1248.  Then  to  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century  belong  considerable  portions  of  the  Cathedrals 
at  Limburg  on  Lahn  and  Bamberg,  the  Dom  at 
Naumburg,  the  Minster  at  Bonn,  and  St  Mary  at 
Gelnhausen. 

Now,  taking  these  churches  in  the  mass,  they  are 
of  such  a  character  that  were  we  to  see  them  in  France 
or  England,  we  should  at  once  put  them  down  as  the 
work  of  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  we  should 
look  for  another  class  to  fill  up  the  period  between 
1 200  and  1270,  when  Cologne  Cathedral  was  begun 
or  the  nave  of  Strasburg  finished. 

It  will  be  seen  how  important  these  dates  are  when 
we  consider  that  at  the  same  time  that  St  Gereon  and 
St  Cunibert  at  Cologne,  the  nave  of  Naumburg 
Cathedral,  and  the  church  at  Gelnhausen  were  being 
built,  cathedrals  like  Amiens,  Le  Mans,  Tours  and 
Troyes  were  rising  throughout  France,  whilst  in 
England,  Westminster  and  Lichfield  and  a  host  of 
other  churches  in  the  later  phase  of  the  Early  English 
style  were  built  at  the  same  time.  I  do  not  mean  to 
say  that  no  pointed  Gothic  churches,  quite  emanci- 
pated from  the  Romanesque  are  to  be  found  in 
Germany,  but  only  that  they  were  of  extraordinary 
rarity  and  do  not  afford  the  same  evidence  of  natural 
growth  that  our  own  do. 

Of  work  really  similar  to  our  own  of  this  first  half 
of  the  thirteenth  century  that  at  Liibeck,  in  the  north 
porch  of  the  cathedral  may  be  cited ;  also  the  choir  of 
Magdeburg  Cathedral  with  its  apse  and  series  of  low 
chapels  round  it  designed  in  imitation  of  the  French 
chevets ;  the  nave  of  St  Sebald's,  Nuremberg;  the 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

western  choirs  of  the  Cathedrals  at  Bamberg  and 
Naumburg,  and  the  elegant  Church  of  Our  Lady  at 
Treves. 

Of  a  later  period ,  and  almost  unique  in  its  character 
is   the   fine   "Hall   Church"*   of  St   Elizabeth  at 
Marburg,  a  structure  whose  date  is  well  known  (1235- 
1283),  and  which  affords  us  one  of  the  few  German 
examples  of  a  style  intermediate  between  the  work 
at  St  Gereon  and  that  of  Cologne  Cathedral.     The 
aisles   of   the  naves    of   Magdeburg   and   Paderborn 
Cathedrals   are    also    vastly    superior    to   any    other 
German  work  of  the  date  (1260-1280),  but  these  are 
only  exceptions  which  serve  to  prove  the  rule,  and 
cannot  in  any  degree  be  taken  as  evidence  of  the  same 
kind  of  growth  and  gradual  development  that  we  trace 
with  so  much  interest  in  every  church  and  building  of 
the  Middle  Ages  in  England.     It  was  an  architecture 
of  fits  and  starts  and  conceits,  not  of  growth,  and  full 
therefore  of  the  contradictions  and  eccentricities  which 
such  a  condition  naturally  involves. 

Recurring  to  the  subject  of  eastern  terminations  it 
may  be  observed  that  the  Italians,  like  the  Germans, 
never  seem  to  have  competed  with  the  French  as 

•  The  "  hall  church  "  which  is  almost  exclusively  confined  to 
Germany,  is  one  in  which  the  nave  and  aisles  are  very  lofty  and 
vaulted  at  the  same  level,  the  former  having  no  clerestory.  Besides 
St  Elizabeth  at  Marburg,  the  following  are  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  of  this  class  of  building  :  St  Lambert,  Miinster,  St  Mary 
in  the  Meadows,  Soest,  Paderboni  Cathedral,  the  Minster  at  Iler- 
ford,  the  Dom  at  Mindcn,  the  Doin  at  Erfurt,  the  two  great 
churches  at  Muhlhausen,  and  that  at  Zwickau.  Our  nearest 
approach  to  this  type  of  church  is  the  choir  of  Bristol  Cathedral, 
rebuilt  early  in  the  fourteenth  century  on  the  site  of  a  Normau 
structure.  The  Temple  Church  in  London  is  also  of  this  claae. 

152 


THE    DOM    AT    MINUliN". 

(Church    with    Nave   and   Aisles  of  the   same   height:    Gonna 
lattr-r  part  of   Thirt<->>nth    Century.) 


To  face  p.   152. 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

regards   the   apse    with   its    clerestory,    surrounding 
aisle,  and  corona  of  chapels. 

This  may  have  arisen  either  from  a  preference  for 
tradition  or  from  a  deficiency  in  engineering  skill, 
but  that  they  knew  how  to  use  the  aisleless  apse 
elegantly  is  patent  in  such  churches  as  San  Francesco 
and  Sta  Chiara,  at  Assisi,  in  the  Cathedral  at  Arezzo, 
and  in  Sta  Maria-sopra-Minerva,  Rome's  only  church 
in  the  pointed  style.  The  Italians  had,  however,  a 
system  of  choir  planning  peculiarly  their  own,  which 
I  will  endeavour  to  explain. 

In  examining  the  features  of  any  national  school 
Of  architecture  it  is  worthy  of  notice  how  distinctly 
some  of  its  peculiarities  and  prejudices  are  marked 
from  the  very  first,  even  in  the  ground-plans  of  the 
buildings  it  produced.     Each  had  its  special  arrange- 
ment of  plan,  seldom  departed  from,  and  handed  on 
from  age  to  age  as  a  precious  heirloom.     £\.nd  going 
to  Italy  we  shall  find  that  the  same  feature  strikes  us 
there  in  almost  all  the  buildings  of  the  pointed  style. 
Xheir  plans  are  all  derived  from  two  ancient  types, 
both  of  which   are  of  venerable   antiquity..     It  was 
from  the  basilica,  converted  into  a  churcht  with  its 
nave  and  aisles  terminated  at  the  end  by  an  apsidal 
projection  from  a  sort  of  transept,  that  a  very  large 
number  of  the  Italian  Gothic  churches  with  transepts 
were  copied. 

Indeed,  if  we  look  at  the  ground-plan  of  St  Paul 
without  the  walls  at  Rome,  and  compare  it  with  the 
fully  developed  Gothic  churches  Sta  Croce  at 
Florence,  Sta  Anastasia  at  Verona,  and  Sant  Andrea 
at  Vercelli ;  \ve  shall  see  that  absolutely  the  only 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

difference  is  the  addition  of  small  chapels  on  the  east 
side  of  the  transept ;  so  that  in  place  of  the  one  apse 
which  marks  the  former,  we  have  the  central  apse  and 
five  chapels  on  each  side  of  it  :  whilst  in  the  churches 
founded  on  the  same  type,  of  Sta  Maria  dei  Frari  at 
Venice,  and  San  Domenico  at  Siena,  there  are  three, 
the  main  apse  or  choir  and  the  side  apses  of  the  former 
being  all  built  with  an  angle  in  the  axis,  the  central 
apse  having  six  sides  and  the  lateral  ones  two  apiece, 
while  in  the  latter  the  choir  and  its  parallel  chapels  are 
all  square-ended.  All  these  great  churches,  besides 
many  others  in  the  important  cities  of  Viterbo, 
Pistoja,  Pisa,  Lucca,  Orvieto,  Florence,  etc.,  were 
built  by  the  two  great  preaching  Orders — the  Dom- 
inicans and  the  Franciscans,  and  besides  this  peculiar 
eastern  termination,  which  the  Italian  architects  felt 
they  could  manage  better  than  the  apse  with  its  aisle 
and  corona  of  chapels,  there  was,  in  most  cases,  a 
vastly  long  and  broad  nave  without  aisles  and  with  a 
series  of  altars  ranged  along  its  walls  on  either  side. 
Sta  Croce  at  Florence  which  may  be  taken  as  the 
archetype  of  these  great  preaching  churches  has  not 
only  very  spacious  aisles  but  a  lofty  clerestory ;  while 
other  aisled  churches  with  transepts  and  chapels 
opening  from  their  eastern  sides  are  Sta  Anastasia 
at  Verona,  Sta  Maria  Novella,  at  Florence,  and 
Sta  Maria-sopra-Minerva  at  Rome. 

The  Church  of  San  Clemente,  at  Rome,  restored  in 
its  present  form  early  in  the  twelfth  century  with  its 
three  aisles  ended  with  parallel  apses,  is  the  other  type 
followed  in  such  churches  as  the  cathedral  at  Tor- 
cello,  and  indeed  all  Italian  pointed  churches  without 

154 


HASIUCA     OF     STA.     AC1NKSK,     ROMK. 


To  /ace  />.  154. 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE 

transepts.  Thus  in  this  respect  Italian  Gothic  was 
simply  a  natural  development  from  an  earlier  style, 
and,  adhering  very  closely  to  the  older  plan  and 
arrangements,  affords  us  scarcely  an  example  of  those 
prolonged  choirs  of  which  our  English  cathedrals  and 
abbeys  are  perhaps  the  most  magnificent  examples. 
But  it  was  not  only  in  respect  of  the  plan  that  it  thus 
founded  itself  upon  what  had  before  existed. 

The  traces  of  Classic  influence  are  indeed  so  many 
and  so  clear,  that  it  is  hardly  speaking  too  strongly 
to  say  that  Gothic  architecture  was  never  fully 
developed  in  Italy,  so  shackled  was  it  by  the  ever- 
present  influence  of  buildings  in  another  style. 
Hence  the  more  we  study  its  peculiarities,  the  more 
we  see  how  curious  a  mixture  there  is  in  it  of  the 
character  of  Classic  and  Gothic  art. 


155 


CHAPTER    V 

THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE — continued 

Mouldings  of  the  period — Columns  and  shafts — Windows — 
Growth  of  tracery — Doorways — Roofs— Towers  and  spires 
— Sculpture — Stained  glass. 

IN  visiting  an  old  building  certain  arrangements  of 
the  plan  contrived  to  serve  certain  recognised  wants 
will  always  be  found ;  and  the  way  in  which  these  have 
been  modified  as  fresh  wants  arose,  so  as  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  special  sites  or  parochial  needs  is  one 
Of  the  most  interesting  subjects  of  inquiry  to  the 
ecclesiologist.  Each  nation  had  its  own  special  de- 
velopment in  consequence. 

In  Germany  and  France  and  Spain  almost  all 
buildings  had  stone  vaults,  and  the  architect  had, 
therefore,  to  take  his  heavy  roof  into  account  from 
the  commencement.  In  England,  on  the  contrary, 
stone  roofs  were  uncommon  save  in  our  grander 
churches,  and  the  architects  were,  consequently,  much 
less  bound  to  make  their  plans  regular  and  symmetri- 
cal, and  an  amount  of  variety  was  a  consequence  of 
this,  for  which  we  may  well  be  grateful. 

The  next  point  to  be  observed  is  the  general 
character  of  the  design.  Now  this  depended  in  the 

156 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

thirteenth  century,  just  as  much  as  it  does  now,  on 
the  taste  and  skill  of  the  master  mason  or  architect^ 
and  all  the  difference  in  the  world  will  be  found 
between  the  work  of  one  man  and  that  of  another. 
They  were  affected  also  by  the  materials  available. 

Should  any  of  my  readers  find  themselves  on  the 
Sussex  coast,  between  Worthing  and  Littlehampton, 
let  them  visit  such  a  church  as  Clymping,  and  they 
will  see  how  the  architect  contrived  with  very  humble 
materials,  and  very  small  amount  of  enrichment  to 
produce  a  work  of  art  almost  as  interesting  as  the 
sumptuous  works  which  at  the  same  time  were  rising 
in  the  far  richer  districts  of  Northamptonshire  and 
Lincolnshire.  The  Clymping  architect's  work  has 
few  mouldings,  and  seldom  went  beyond  the  use  of  a 
delicate  chamfer  for  all  angles.  In  these  Sussex 
Early  English  churches  the  windows  are  simple 
lancets  with  deep  splays ;  the  glass  is  set  close  to  the 
outside  face  of  the  wall,  the  buttresses  are  simply 
weathered,  the  roofs  are  of  timber  arched  in  a  simple 
fashion,  and  the  towers  so  simple  in  design  that  it 
might  almost  be  supposed  no  architectural  skill  was 
required,  for  they  are  finished  with  simple  spires  of 
oak  covered  with  shingle.  Yet  such  towers  and  spires 
as  Iford  and  Southwick  and  Newhaven  and  Alfreston, 
are  not  inferior  in  artistic  character  or  in  the  proper 
use  of  material  to  Stamford  and  Ketton  and  Warming- 
ton,  built  in  counties  where  the  architects  having 
good  stone  close  at  hand  and  the  example  of  their 
cathedral  architects  to  guide  them,  built  churches 
full  of  precious  and  beautiful  detail,  designed  a 
number  of  varied  towers,  and  finished  them  with 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

stone  spires  which  are,  to  the  present  day,  the 
proper  subject  of  admiration  to  all  who  take  a  pride 
in  the  church  architecture  of  their  native  land.  But 
to  understand  how  to  observe  these  very  varying 
beauties,  it  is  necessary  to  observe  and  distinguish 
the  features  of  detail  which  give  them,  in  an  architect's 
eyes,  so  much  of  their  value. 

The  office  which  mouldings  fulfil  is  doubtless 
known  to  many,  but  study  is  requisite  to  comprehend 
fully  how  much  the  effect  of  the  finest  work  depends 
upon  their  being  well  designed,  or  the  contrary. 
One  of  the  greatest  improvements  introduced  by  the 
thirteenth-century  architects  was  the  chamfer.  It 
was  formed  by  cutting  away  the  angle  of  a  piece  of 
stone,  then  hollowing  the  flat  surface  so  as  to  afford 
a  play  of  light  and  shade  upon  it ;  or  the  angle  might 
be  left,  and  the  parts  of  the  stone  above  and  below 
each  cut  into  by  a  roll  or  into  two  half-rolls ;  then  the 
hollow  was  deepened,  and  a  small  fillet  added  beneath 
it,  and  these  rolls  and  fillets  were  multiplied  so  as 
to  vary  the  effect  of  the  shadows  and  lights.  The 
string-courses,  plinths  and  bases,  were  similarly  the 
subjects  of  like  changes,  all  made  with  the  object  of 
getting  more  variety  of  light  and  shade,  and  so  as 
to  enrich  and  emphasise  the  architectural  lines.  The 
thirteenth-century  English  mouldings  were,  I  think, 
the  very  best  in  Europe ;  they  were  well  drawn,  fitted 
to  their  places,  and  infinitely  varied  in  section. 
They  were  frequently  adorned  with  '  dog-tooth  ' 
and  other  carving.  Some  idea  of  the  different  manner 
in  which  English  and  French  architects  designed 
their  mouldings — I  refer  more  especially  to  those  of 

153 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

the  pier  arches — may  be  obtained  by  placing  side  by 
side  a  photograph  or  a  good  engraving  of  the  Early 
English  portion  of  the  choir  of  Lincoln  Cathedral, 
and  of  the  nave  in  the  French  one  of  Chartres 
—contemporary  works.  In  the  former  we  have  a 
succession  of  deep  mouldings  meeting  in  the  soffit  or 
under  side  of  the  arch  in  one  still  deeper ;  in  the  latter 
the  mouldings  are  fewer  and  the  sofh't  of  the  arch  is 
flat,  with  one  hollow  on  either  side  of  it.*  Those  of 
my  London  readers  desirous  of  an  ocular  demonstra- 
tion may  obtain  this  by  visiting  two  of  the  finest 
churches  built  in  the  metropolis  in  modern  times, 
each  the  work  of  an  architect  thoroughly  versed  in 
the  grammar  of  his  art — the  great  cruciform  Early 
English  "  cathedral  "  in  Gordon  Square,  designed  in 
1851  by  Raphael  Brandon,  and  the  parish  church  of 
St  Mary,  Stoke  Newington,  built  a  few  years  later  in 
the  style  of  the  transition  from  first  to  second 
pointed  on  a  northern  French  motif  by  Sir  Gilbert 
Scott.  The  shape  of  the  abacus  of  the  capital  had 
much  to  do  with  the  richness  or  plainness  of  the  arch 
mouldings.  Amongst  the  French  the  use  of  a  square 
abacus  led  to  a  square  section  of  moulding  and  to  a 
uniformity  in  design  which  may  be  said  to  have  lasted 
until  the  extinction  of  the  Gothic  style  in  France ;  but 
the}'  secured  one  fine  effect  of  shadow — breadth  and 
boldness.  In  England  by  the  end  of  the  twelfth 
century  the  square  abacus  was  discarded  in  favour  of 
a  circular  one,  and  with  results  probably  not  fore- 

*  One  of  the  most  beautiful  exceptions  to  this  rule  are  the  pier 
arches  in  the  nave  of  Rouen  Cathedral,  which  for  obvious  reasons 
have  a  strikingly  English  character,  from  their  richness  and 
depth. 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

teen.  It  was  impossible  to  plan  mouldings  with  a 
broad  plain  soffit  to  fit  a  circular  abacus.  It  became 
necessary  instead  to  plan  them  on  the  chamfer  plane, 
as  mouldings  fitted  to  squares  would  overhang  the 
caps.  So  it  was  necessary  to  devise  fresh  forms. 
Then  there  was  a  loss  of  light  and  shade  so  simply 
obtained  by  the  old  fashion,  and  this  was  regained 
very  skilfully  by  deeply  cut  hollows  at  the  junctions 
of  stones,  and  among  the  mouldings. 

To  our  circular  abacus  we  owe  our  beautiful  system 
of  mouldings,  which  may  be  seen  not  only  in  our  state- 
liest cathedrals,  but  in  those  parish  churches  in  which 
we  are  excelled  by  no  other  country  in  Europe.  As 
peculiarly  fine  instances  of  rich  Early  English  mould- 
ings I  may  refer  to  the  pier  arches  in  West  Walton 
Church,  Norfolk,  All  Saints',  Stamford,  a  doorway 
in  Great  Milton  Church,  Oxfordshire,  and  the  triplet 
of  lancet  windows  at  the  east  end  of  Polebrook  Church, 
Northamptonshire ;  but  the  system  would  appear  to 
have  reached  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  refinement  in  the 
triforium  of  the  north  transept  of  York  Minster. 

This  necessity  for  the  study  of  effect  by  means  of 
moulding  led  to  the  use  of  mouldings  to  an  extent  un- 
heard of  by  other  schools.  Our  English  capitals, 
instead  of  being  always  carved  with  leafage,  were 
more  often  simply  moulded.  Among  our  finest 
examples  of  this  work  are,  to  name  but  a  few,  the 
clustered  columns  in  the  choir  of  Southwell  Cathe- 
dral ;  throughout  Salisbury  Cathedral ;  in  the  choirs  of 
Beverley  Minster,  Westminster  and  Netley  Abbeys ; 
in  the  south  porch  of  Woodford  Church,  Northampton- 
shire, and  in  the  choir  of  Hexhani  Abbey. 

1 60 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

With  mouldings  the  architect  knows  exactly  the 
effect  he  will  produce;  with  sculpture  he  is  at  the 
mercy  of  someone  else  for  a  most  important  feature. 
The  rounded  and  soft  lines  of  thirteenth-century 
mouldings  accord  singularly  well  with  the  round  and 
true  lines  of  traceries,  with  the  circular  column  or 
the  slender  shaft.  The  former,  though  never  used 
after  our  transitional  period  on  so  large  a  scale  as 
those  in  the  choir  of  Rouen  Cathedral,  in  the  nave  of 
Soissons  or  in  the  choir  aisles  of  Chartres,  are  of 
frequent  occurrence  in  parish  churches ;  as  at  Oundle, 
Northamptonshire,  Ketton,  Rutlandshire,  St  Giles, 
Oxford,  Long  Stanton,  Cambridgeshire,  Clymping, 
Sussex,  and  Falmersham,  Bedfordshire ;  and  not  only 
with  these,  but  with  all  the  features  of  the  buildings 
they  adorn,  these  graceful  Early  English  mouldings 
happily  accord.  So  much  is  this  the  case,  that  when 
at  the  end  of  the  century  the  window  tracery  became 
more  complicated,  and  the  columns  ceased  to  be 
shafts  or  clusters  of  shafts,  the  mouldings  were 
all  altered  to  harmonise  with  them,  and  in  the 
fifteenth  century  the  hard  sharp  lines  of  mouldings 
tallied  exactly  with  the  formal  and  precise  designs  of 
the  traceries.* 

*  The  tall  cylindrical  column  with  the  foliaged  capital  was  used 
in  continental  Gothic  through  all  the  epochs  of  pointed.  In  the 
Low  Countries  it  is  almost  universal ;  in  Germany  we  find  it  in  the 
Cistercian  church  at  Altenberg ;  St  Lambert's,  Miinster ;  Our  Lady's 
churches  at  Treves  and  Nuremberg  (the  capitals  in  the  latter 
instance  being  carved  with  small  figures  of  angels ;  in  North 
Italy  at  Venice  (Churches  of  SS.  Giovannie,  Paolo  and  the  Frari), 
Vicenza  (San  Lorenzo),  Verona  (Sta  Anastasia).  A  rare  instance 
of  this  tall  circular  column  in  England  occurs  at  Fountains  Abbey 
(eastern  transept). 

161  L 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Endless  was  the  variety  in  the  shapes  of  thirteenth  - 
century  columns — circular,  octagonal,  clustered » 
grouped  in  fours  with  smaller  shafts  at  the  angles,  or 
even  with  double  series  of  the  attached  shafts  to  give 
greater  richness  of  effect.*  In  doorways  the  general 
arrangement  of  the  twelfth  century  is  retained — a 
series  of  columns  in  square  recesses,  with  angles  taken 
off  or  moulded.  For  detached  columns  or  clusters  of 
columns  various  sections  were  used,  and  in  this  age  it 
became  the  fashion  to  form  the  detached  columns  of 
marble.  This  could  not  be  got  in  long  blocks ;  hence 
came  banded  shafts.  The  extent  to  which  this 
charming  custom  was  carried  may  be  seen  at  West- 
minster, at  Salisbury,  Rochester  and  Worcester,  and 
the  Temple  Church.  It  had  its  inconveniences,  how- 
ever, in  construction,  as  these  collections  of  columns 
depended  on  their  caps,  bands  and  bases  for  holding 
them  together,  and  therefore,  for  their  strength ;  and 
it  was  found,  before  the  end  of  the  century,  that  safer 
buildings  could  be  constructed  with  stone  built  in 
courses,  and  so  gradually  marble  shafts  went  out  of 
fashion.  But  they  are  one  of  the  special  and  most 
beautiful  features  of  the  thirteenth  century.  As  i 
charming  instance  of  the  use  of  marble  shafts  the 

*  A  singular  kind  of  Early  English  column  is  that  of  the  nave 
arcade  of  vSt  Cuthbert's.  Wells.  It  is  composed  of  a  square  nucleus 
to  each  side  of  which  three  slender  amalgamated  shafts  are 
attached.  The  capitals  of  these  shafts  are  small,  and  some  are 
foliaged  while  others  are  plain  and  somewhat  poor-looking. 
These  columns  were  not  originally  so  lofty  as  they  are  now, 
having  been  heightened  in  Perpendicular  days  when  the  church 
underwent  a  complete  transformation,  but  the  Early  English 
capitals  were  used  again.  Their  form  and  leafage  is  of  a  type 
peculiar  to  Somersetshire. 

162 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

clustered  columns  in  the  Lady  Chapel  of  Worcester 
Cathedral  may  be  cited. 

In  the  transitional  and  Early  English  work  of  the 
counties  north  of  the  Humber  we  meet  with  a  peculiar 
type  of  column.  It  consists  of  a  cylindrical  nucleus 
around  which  perhaps  eight  slender  shafts  are 
grouped.  Sometimes  the  capitals  of  these  shafts 
have  rather  elongated  bells  without  any  carving,  at 
others  they  are  foliaged,  but  the  whole  group  is 
crowned  with  one  common  capital  of  circular  form. 
Such  piers  occur  in  the  arcade  and  triforium  of  Selby 
Abbey ;  they  are  used  entirely  in  the  naves  of  St 
Hilda,  Hartlepool  (where  the  aisles  which  have  lean- 
to  wooden  roofs,  are  spanned  at  the  interval  of  each 
bay  by  a  semicircular  stone  arch),  and  of  Billingham 
Church,  Durham.  A  similar  capital  crowns  the 
quatrefoil-sectioned  piers  on  the  north  side  of  the  nave 
of  St  Guthlac's,  Market  Deeping,  Lincolnshire. 

An  exceedingly  graceful  type  of  column  is  that 
used  in  the  nave  arcade  of  West  Walton  Church,  near 
Wisbech,  the  cap  and  base  of  which  is  shown  in  the 
illustration,  but  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  Early  English 
richness  and  refinement  is  seen  in  the  presbytery  of 
Ely  Cathedral,  that  exquisite  addition  of  six  bays 
which  Bishop  Hugh  de  Northwold  made  to  the 
Norman  one  between  1235  and  1252,  to  form  a 
more  fitting  and  convenient  space  for  the  shrines  of 
St  Etheldreda  and  her  sainted  sisters — Withburga, 
Sexburga,  and  Ermenilda.  These  piers  are  of 
Purbeck  marble,  cylindrical,  with  eight  attached 
ringed  shafts  around  them,  the  capitals  of  which  have 
leafage  of  the  boldest  character. 

163 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Three  years  after  the  dedication  of  this  presbytery 
of  Ely,  when  Henry  III.  and  his  Court  were  present, 
the  Angel  Choir  of  Lincoln  Cathedral,  an  extension, 
five  bays,  of  St  Hugh's  work,  was  commenced. 
Here  the  columns,  also  composed  of  eight  shafts,  have 
their  capitals  similarly  foliaged.  They  are  likewise 
ringed  at  mid-height,  and  except  that  the  shafts  are 
placed  so  close  together  that  they  conceal  the  nucleus, 
and  that  they  form  a  diamond  collectively  on  section, 
differ  but  little  from  those  in  the  nave  of  the  same 
cathedral  (1209-1235)  or  from  those  just  described  in 
the  presbytery  of  Ely.  If  we  have  variety  in  the 
form  of  the  Early  English  column,  we  have  a  still 
greater  one  in  the  window  of  that  period.  It  may  be 
interesting  to  trace  its  evolution.  The  windows  in 
the  most  ancient  buildings  of  our  ancestors  which 
time  has  yet  spared,  bear  their  mute  but  impressive 
testimony  to  the  character  of  the  age  in  which  they 
were  erected.  Their  rude  simplicity  tells  of  a  period 
in  which  precaution  for  security  was  no  less  necessary 
than  the  admission  of  light.  The  earliest  windows 
were  no  more  than  small  and  narrow  apertures  pierced 
as  it  were  with  timid  hesitation  through  walls  of 
massive  thickness,  and  set  as  high  as  possible  above 
the  level  of  the  ground.  With  the  view  to  diffuse  as 
widely  as  might  be  the  light  almost  stealthily  obtained, 
the  window  openings  were  made  to  splay  or  spread 
with  a  slope  each  way  inwards  from  the  actual  aperture 
in  the  outer  face  of  the  walls.  A  necessary  conse- 
quence of  this  arrangement  was  that,  though  two 
windows  side  by  side  in  the  same  wall  might  be 
actually  at  a  considerable  distance  from  each  other 

164 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYE'S— continued 

when  viewed  from  the  exterior,  in  the  interior  their 
splayed  sides  would  be  almost  in  contact.  Thus  the 
two  windows  would  be  brought  into  combination ;  and 
hence,  as  time  rolled  on,  and  circumstances  were 
modified,  several  windows  came  to  be  so  grouped  as  to 
form  a  single  figure,  and,  by  one  step  onward,  from 
this  grouping  of  separate  windows  arose  the  one 
window  divided  into  lights  and  crowned  with 
tracery. 

In  Norman  architecture  the  window  in  general  use 
was  a  single,  round-headed  opening ;  but  circular 
windows  were  also  not  uncommon,  and  one  of  these 
circular  windows  would  naturally  enough  be  placed 
above  two  of  the  plain  round-headed  windows  in  a 
gabled  end  of  a  church.  In  the  gables  of  the  eastern 
chapels  attached  to  the  Cistercian  Abbey  Churches  of 
Fountains  and  Kirkstall,  a  circular  window  appears 
thus  placed  above  two  single  round-headed  windows, 
and  the  three  openings  are  splayed  together  in  the 
interior,  so  as  to  produce,  when  viewed  from  that 
direction,  the  appearance  of  a  connected  composition. 
The  relation  which  these  three  openings  bear  to  one 
another,  and  to  the  space  in  which  they  are  situated, 
is  too  evident  to  permit  ,us  to  doubt  that  in  this 
arrangement  we  have  the  type  of  the  elemental 
principle  of  geometrical  tracery — a  circle  carried  by 
two  arches.  The  conventional  church  at  Kirkstall 
was  completed  in  1152;  and  Westminster  Abbey,  the 
first  building  in  England  of  authentic  date  in  which 
window  tracery  properly  so  called  was  used,  was 
commenced  in  1245.  We  liave  tllus  an  entire  centul7 
intervening  between  the  first  appearance  of  this 

165 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

feature  and  the  introduction  of  the  art  to  which  it 
eventually  gave  rise. 

At  the  ends  of  churches  which  were  gabled  three 
lancets  were  commonly  placed,  as,  for  example,  the 
small  Early  English  churches  of  Weston  in  Lincoln- 
shire, and  Strixton  in  Northamptonshire,  the  centre 
window  being  the  most  elevated  of  the  group ;  but  in 
the  side  walls  the  usual  plan  was  to  put  two  of  these 
single-light  windows  into  connection  with  each  other. 

I  alluded  just  now  to  Weston  Church,  Lincolnshire. 
The  chancel  of  this  church  is  in  every  way  a  typical 
example  of  an  Early  English  one  in  the  "  lancet  ' 
phase  of  the  style.  Of  a  beauty  little  inferior  is  the 
eastern  elevation  of  Westwell  Church,  Kent,  about 
which  there  is,  as  at  Weston  and  Strixton,  Wappen- 
bury,  in  Warwickshire,  and  Itchenor  in  Sussex,  a 
Doric  simplicity  which  is  eminently  pleasing.  There 
are  two  tiers  of  windows  at  the  east  end  of  Westwell 
Church  ;  in  the  lower  is  a  triplet  of  lancets — the  central 
one  of  which  contains  a  small  portion  of  a  thirteenth- 
century  Jesse  in  stained  glass,  and  in  the  upper  a 
circle  flanked  on  either  side  by  a  lancet.  Westwell 
Church — remarkable  also  for  the  three  arches  at  the 
entrance  to  its  chancel,  a  feature  of  another  Kentish 
church,  that  of  Capel-le-Ferne — is,  however,  only  one 
of  the  many  churches  of  this  period  with  which  Kent 
and  Surrey  are  so  liberally  bestrewn,  and  among 
which  may  be  named  CliiTe  at  Hoo  in  the  former 
county  and  Chipstead  in  the  latter.*  It  is  many  years 

*  In  a  paper  read  by  Mr  Street  before  the  Ecclesiological  .Society 
(i6th  May  iS.r,'.>),  the  eminent  architect  remarked  upon  certain 
similarities  in  the  character  of  some  village  churches  in  Kent  and 

166 


THE    EARLY   ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

since  I  saw  Chipstead,  but  memory  recalls  a  cruciform 
structure  with  a  low  massive  central  tower  and  short 
square  spire,  and  a  deep  aisleless  chancel  lighted  on 
either  side  by  five  lancet  windows. 

Examples  occur  of  two  lancets  being  pierced  in  both 
the  eastern  and  western  ends  of  small  churches.  In 
the  interesting  little  Church  of  Elsfield,  in  Oxford- 
shire, two  such  windows  appear  towards  the  west,  and 
at  Fisherton  Delamere,  in  Wiltshire,  the  eastern  wall 
of  the  chancel  has  two  beautiful  lancets,  which  in  the 
interior  are  surmounted  by  a  rich  group  of  mouldings, 
rising  from  Purbeck  shafts ;  and  thus,  in  this  instance, 
the  much-desired  triplicity  was  obtained  from  the 
shafts  of  the  scoinson  arches  of  the  windows,  instead 
of  from  the  pierced  openings  themselves.* 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  the  altered  forms  of 
single-light  windows  which  took  place  within  a 
century  (1150-1250) — their  gradual  elongation,  the 
introduction  of  the  lancet-shaped  heading,  and  the 
grouping  of  several  lancet  windows  with  continually 
diminishing  spaces  of  wall  between  them ;  then  comes 
the  connection  of  the  dripstones  of  the  group,  with 
the  elevation  of  the  central  light  of  a  triplet  above  its 
side  lights,  and  the  subsequent  substitution  of  a  single 
arch  above  the  three  windows  in  place  of  their  three 
connected  dripstones ;  next  follows  the  extension  of 

vSurrey,  which,  as  it  struck  him,  proved  that  they  owed  their  design 
to  one  and  the  same  man,  instancing,  besides  those  above  alluded 
to,  Merstham,  Merton,  and  Gatton  in  Surrey,  and  Brasted  in  Kent. 
*The  east  end  of  St  Mary-le-Wigford,  Lincoln,  with  its  two 
lancets — one  on  either  side  of  a  central  buttress  and  an  elongated 
quatrefoil  in  the  gable,  is  a  charming  composition,  simple  yet 
elegant. 

I67 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

the  number  of  component  members  of  the  group  from 
three  to  five  as  in  the  chancel  of  Chetwode  Church, 
Buckinghamshire,  and  even  seven  lancets  as  at 
Ockham,  in  Surrey,  sometimes  all  surmounted  by  a 
single  arch,  and  all  having  their  lights  so  adjusted  as 
to  establish  a  relation  between  the  several  lancets,  not 
only  to  one  another,  but  also  to  the  gable  in  which 
they  were  placed ;  and  finally,  the  spaces  between  the 
heads  of  the  lancets  thus  grouped  are  discovered  to  be 
pierced  either  with  triangular  openings  or  small 
circles,  while  the  lancets  themselves  begin  to  be 
separated  by  true  mullions  in  place  of  narrow  strips 
of  wall.  Meanwhile,  in  the  case  of  two  lancet  windows 
being  brought  into  combination  results  of  no  less 
importance  were  in  course  of  progress ;  the  connected 
dripstones  of  the  two  distinct  windows  gave  way  to  a 
single  arch  thrown  over  the  two;  the  tympanum-like 
space  of  masonry  between  this  arch  and  the  heads  of 
the  two  windows  brought  to  remembrance  the  Norman 
composition  exemplified  in  the  gables  of  Kirkstall  and 
Fountains,  and  it  was  accordingly  pierced  either  with 
a  plain  circle  or  a  foiled  figure,  or  a  similar  figure 
within  a  circle,  or  with  a  lozenge-shaped  opening 
adapted  to  the  curves  of  the  arch  above  and  the 
spandrel  below.  There  is  one  singular  composition, 
not  very  generally  known,  as  exemplified  in  a  window 
at  Wimbotsham,  Norfolk.  It  consists  of  a  single 
arch  simply  chamfered  and  without  any  dripstone, 
enclosing  a  recessed  plane  of  masonry  in  which  are 
placed  two  contiguous  lancets  without  hood-mouldings, 
while  a  quatrefoiled  circle  above  them  has  a  slightly 
undercut  dripstone  carried  quite  round  it,  and  kept 

1 68 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

distinct  and  clear  both  from  the  window  heads  and 
the  arch  which  surmounts  and  encloses  the  whole. 

It  was  by  the  joint  operation  of  these  two  important 
changes,  viz.  the  conversion  of  a  group  of  lancets  into 
one  window  of  many  lights,  and  the  combination  of  a 
circle  and  two  lancets  under  one  arch,  that  the  way 
was  prepared  for  the  introduction  of  actual  window 
tracery.  Be  it  remembered,  however,  in  due  honour 
to  the  late  twelfth-century  architect  of  the  Yorkshire 
abbeys,  that  the  circle  carried  by  two  lancets  is  the 
type  and  origin  of  the  most  perfect  forms  of  tracery, 
and  that  the  most  beautiful  windows  of  geometrical 
tracery  have  been  produced  from  the  direct  application 
of  this  type. 

Thus  we  see  how  the  mere  slit  becomes  a  gracefully 
moulded  and  shafted  lancet  which  was  doubled, 
trebled,  as  in  the  transepts  of  Beverley  Minster,  and 
in  the  chancels  of  Hythe,  Kent,  Castle  Rising, 
Norfolk,  Polebrook,  Northants,  and  the  east  end  of 
Ely  Cathedral,  where  the  triplet  is  surmounted  by  a 
quintuplet  or  group  of  five  ;  arranged  in  two  tiers  of  four 
as  at  the  east  end  of  Southwell  Cathedral ;  in  one  tier 
of  five  as  in  the  Lady  Chapel  of  Hereford  Cathedral, 
the  chapter-houses  of  Chester  and  Oxford,  the  north 
transept  of  York  Minster,  the  chancel  of  Chetwode 
Church,  Bucks,*  and  that  of  the  Chapel  of  the  Grey 

*  An  ancient  conventual  church  belonging  to  a  priory  of 
Augustinians,  founded  here  in  1244.  These  lancets  still  retain 
their  coeval  stained  glass  (see  p.  204).  It  was  from  the  study  of 
this  church  that  Sir  Gilbert  Scott  first  obtained  his  love  for,  and 
knowledge  of,  Gothic  architecture.  (Vide  his  "Personal  and 
Professional  Recollections.")  Sir  Gilbert  reproduced  these  five 
lancet  windows  in  one  of  his  earliest  London  churches — 
St  Matthew's,  City  Road,  built  1847-8. 

169 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Friars  (now  the  Guildhall)  at  Chichester.  At  the 
east  end  of  Ockham  Church,  Surrey,  is  a  group  of 
seven  lancets,  a  most  remarkable  and,  I  believe, 
unique  arrangement  in  a  moderately  sized  parish 
church,  the  lancets  being  divided  by  slender  detached 
shafts  of  Sussex  marble  with  sculptured  capitals.* 

The  richness  to  which  fenestration  was  carried  in 
England  before  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
is  exemplified  in  the  Lady  Chapel  of  Hereford 
Cathedral,  where,  owing  to  the  great  thickness  of 
the  walls,  the  architect  was  enabled  to  enrich  the 
splays  of  the  single  side  lancets  with  no  less  than  six 
banded  shafts  with  boldly  foliaged  capitals. 

The  bar-traceried  window  grew  out  of  one  composed 
of  two  or  three  lancets  with  one  large,  or  one  large 
and  two  small  circles  over  them,  which  have  the 
appearance  of  being  pierced  through  a  stone  panel. 
This  is  known  as  plate  tracery,  and  there  are  excellent 
examples  of  it  in  the  great  rose  window  of  the  north 
transept  of  Lincoln  Cathedral,  the  Castle  Hall  at 
Winchester,  the  Bishop's  Palace  at  Wells,  Browns- 
over  Church,  Warwickshire,  Stone  Church,  Dartford, 
Lynchmere,  Sussex,  Wimborne  Minster  and  Glap- 
thone  Church,  Northamptonshire,  where  the  opening 
above  the  two  lancets  takes  the  form  of  the  1'csica. 
These  Early  English  lancet  windows  are  almost 
always  very  deeply  splayed  internally.  Sometimes, 

*  The  triplets  of  lancets  at  the  east  ends  of  Castle  Rising  Church 
(Norfolk),  Polebrook  and  Strixton  (Northants),  Skelton  (near 
York),  Kirkstead  Chapel  (near  Horncastle),  Stanton  Harcourt 
(Oxfordshire),  and  Wimborne  Minster  (Dorset),  are  perfect 
models  of  their  class,  as  are  those  in  the  choir  aisles  of  Worcester 
Cathedral  and  Pershore  Abbey. 

170 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

when  the  window  is  composed  of  two  or  more  lights, 
the  design  is  repeated  internally  in  the  form  of  two 
openings  separated  by  a  shaft,  and  at  more  or  less 
distance  from  the  window  according  to  the  depth  of 
the  splay ;  examples  of  this  inner  plane  of  tracery  as 
it  is  called,  may  be  seen  in  the  choir  of  Worcester 
Cathedral  and  Pershore  Abbey,  at  Stone,  near  Dart- 
ford,  in  the  clerestory  of  the  choir  of  Hereford 
Cathedral,  in  the  west  windows  of  the  great  southern 
nave  of  St  Nicholas,  Great  Yarmouth,  where  we  have 
three  very  tall  windows  of  two  lights  apiece ;  and  in  a 
very  curious  form  in  the  belfry  of  Sutton  St  Mary 
Church,  Lincolnshire,  where  the  outer  windows  are 
pointed  ones  of  two  acutely  lancet  lights  without  any 
foliations,  while  the  inner  ones  have  three  lancet  lights 
on  slender  cylindrical  shafts,  likewise  without  any 
foliations.  But  the  la'rgest  and  most  beautiful 
example  of  this  inner  plane  of  tracery  occurs  at  the 
west  end  of  Dunblane  Cathedral.  Externally  it  is 
lighted  by  three  tall  windows,  each  of  two  plate- 
traceried  lancet  compartments  with  a  q.uatrefoil  pierced 
in  the  tympanum  of  the  containing  arch ;  while 
internally  this  panel  has  an  inverted  cinq.uefoil.  The 
inner  plane  of  tracery  has  capitals  to  the  shafts,  while 
on  the  exterior  they  are  plain.  Sir  Gilbert  Scott, 
who  about  the  time  he  was  preparing  the  designs  for 
Kensington  Parish  Church  was  studying  the  ecclesi- 
ology  of  Scotland,  has  reproduced  the  Dunblane 
windows  at  the  west  end  of  his  London  work. 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  the 
large  bar-traceried  window,  of  three,  five,  or  seven 
lights,  had  developed  itself,  and  as  far  as  its  tracery 

171 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

was  concerned  constituted  a  transition  from  the  Early 
English  style  to  the  glorious  Decorated  one  that 
succeeded  it.  When  this  kind  of  window  first  made 
its  appearance  the  lights  were  not  cusped,  but  the 
circle  or  circles  composing  the  tracery  were.  This  is 
the  case  with  the  windows  in  the  earlier  parts  of 
Westminster  Abbey,  where,  as  in  the  chapels  of  the 
apse,  they  are  formed  of  two  plain  lancet  lights 
supporting  a  sex-foiled  circle.  We  see  very  much  the 
same  type  of  window  in  the  contemporary  chapels 
round  the  apse  of  Beauvais  Cathedral,  in  the  aisles  of 
the  transepts  at  Amiens,  and  in  the  choirs  of  Rheims 
and  Troyes.  In  the  nave  of  Lichfield  Cathedral,  in 
some  of  the  chapels  at  the  east  end  of  Exeter 
Cathedral,  and  in  the  clerestory  and  great  east  window 
of  Lincoln  Cathedral,  the  lights  are  plain,  while  the 
circles  composing  the  tracery  are  cusped.  In  the  fine 
six-light  east  window  of  Raunds  Church,  Northamp- 
tonshire, this  arrangement  is  reversed,  the  lights  being 
cusped  while  the  circles  in  the  head  are  plain.  Other 
windows  of  this  period  (1250-1270)  which  may  be 
styled  one  of  transition  from  Early  English  to 
Decorated,  are  those  in  the  chapter-house  at  Salisbury, 
Stone  Church  near  Dartford,  St  John's,  Winchester, 
the  nave  chapels  of  Chichester  Cathedral,*  Acton 
Burnell  (east  window),  Shropshire,  Peterborough 
Cathedral  (eastern  aisle  of  the  south  transept),  and 
Magdalen  College  School,  Brackley,  Northants  (east 

*  Two  adjacent  windows  here  afford  a  good  illustration  of 
the  growth  of  tracery,  the  one  being  "  plate  traceried  "  and  of  two 
lancet  lights  with  a  quatrefoil  in  the  tympanum,  while  the  other 
is  "  bar-traceried  "  and  of  three  lights  with  tracery  composed  of 
three  circles,  which,  us  well  as  the  lights,  have  rio  cuspiugs. 

172 


\VKSTKKX     PORTAL,     SI  \    AXASTASIA,    YKRONA. 

(Gothic   of    North    Italy.) 


To  face  p.   172. 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

window).  One  very  beautiful  type  of  window,  but 
not  a  very  common  one,  is  that  in  which  the  acutely 
pointed  lights,  without  any  foliations,  rise  up  to  the 
containing  arch.  A  five-light  window  of  this  descrip- 
tion may  be  seen  in  Irthlingborough  Church, 
Northants.  Such  a  window  affords  a  splendid  field 
for  the  introduction  of  one  large  subject  in  stained 
glass,  as,  for  instance,  the  Tree  of  Jesse,  or  the  Te 
Deum.  Copies  of  the  Irthlingborough  window  may 
be  seen  in  the  modern  churches  of  St  Andrew's,  Stoke 
Newington,  and  St  Martin's,  Brighton. 

Before  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  cusping 
had  grown  into  most  elaborate  traceries,  and  even 
very  early  in  it,  as  at  Netley  Abbey ;  and  by  the 
middle  of  it  in  the  chapter-house  of  Westminster 
Abbey,  we  see  tracery  of  the  most  complete  and 
finished  description. 

The  essentials  of  good  tracery  are  subordination  of 
members,  and  divisions  into  primary,  secondary,  and 
tertiary  orders  of  tracery.  These  are  carefully 
observed  in  the  work  of  the  thirteenth  century.  At 
that  time  the  designs  of  openings  were  as  important 
as  the  line  between  them,  so  that  whether  the  lines  of 
the  stonework  or  the  voids  are  regarded,  the  eye  is 
equally  gratified.  Differences  between  early  and  late 
traceries  are  perhaps  in  favour  of  the  former.  The 
arrangement  of  cusps  is  well  worthy  of  attention. 
Ogee  or  wavy  lines  are  never  used,  the  cusps  are 
inserted  in  a  groove,  and  the  cusping  of  arcades  is 
undercut,  as  at  Westminster.  Very  frequently  its 
outlines  follow  no  stiff  mathematical  lines,  but  show 
by  their  variety  and  freedom  that  they  are  drawn  by 

*••  *  */ 

173 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

hand,  as  at  Lincoln.  In  the  earliest  cuspings  all  the 
mouldings  follow  the  cusps ;  the  later  cusps  are 
subordinate  to  an  enclosing  line. 

Those  who  have  paid  a  visit  to  the  triforia  of  West- 
minster Abbey  will  have  observed  the  rich  effect  of 
the  double  planes  of  tracery  to  the  arcades  opening 
on  to  the  nave  or  choir.  These  are  partly  moulded, 
partly  carved,  and  very  plain  on  the  side  of  the 
passage,  but  still  good. 

The  wall  arcades  below  the  aisle  windows  of  West- 
minster Abbey  and  Stone  Church  near  Dartford,  are 
nearly  identical.  Extremely  beautiful  is  this  kind  of 
work  in  the  Early  English  choirs  of  Worcester  and 
Lincoln  Cathedrals,  and  in  that  of  Beverley  Minster. 
It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  much  of  this  fine  work 
at  Westminster  has  been  mutilated  to  admit  of 
memorial  tablets. 

The  inside  heads  of  windows  of  this  period  were 
moulded,  carried  on  shafts,  and  generally  struck  from 
a  centre  lower  and  different  from  the  exterior  arch. 

Although  our  thirteenth-century  doorways  are  not 
among  the  glories  of  that  period  as  compared  with  the 
French  ones,  we  have  examples  of  which  we  may  well 
be  proud.  Of  these  I  may  refer  to  the  western  door- 
way of  Ely  Cathedral,  to  that  within  the  "  galilee 
porch  "  in  the  western  side  of  the  south  transept  at 
Lincoln,  to  the  north  porches  *  of  Salisbury  and  Wells, 

*  The  porches  at  Ely,  Lincoln,  Salisbury,  and  Wells  are  very 
fine,  being  groined  and  enriched  with  arcading  at  the  sides,  with 
fine  outside  and  even  finer  inner  arches,  and  generally  of  two 
stories  in  height.  At  Ely  the  vaulted  chamber  is  of  unusually 
lofty  dimensions,  being  lighted  on  the  western  side  by  three 
lancet  windows. 

174 


f«BB^  -^S^mmfigy 

%££*&&*"  /:- 


r  - 


—  '^ 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

to    those   of    Beverley    Minster,    Christchurch,    and 
Bridlington  Priories,  to  the  south  transept  doorways 
of  York  Minster,  the  north  and  south  transept  door- 
ways of  Lichfield  Cathedral,  and  to  countless  more 
modestly  dimensioned  but  exquisitely  graceful  ones 
scattered  up  and  down  the  country  in  our  incomparable 
town  and  village  churches.     Beautiful  as  they  are, 
our  own  portals  make  no  kind  of  pretension  to  vie 
with  those  of  the  French  in  magnificence.     In  this 
respect  the  architects  of  the  two  nations  seem  to  have 
gone  on  quite  contrary  principles,   for  the  French, 
even  in  buildings  on  the  secondary  scale,  introduced 
portals  of  prodigious  size  and  extreme  richness,  while 
the  English,  even  in  buildings  on  a  grand  scale,  often 
made  their  doorways  very  inconspicuous.     Compare, 
for  instance,  the  fa£ades  of  Amiens  and  Wells — in 
one    the    portals    are    everything,    so    that    we    can 
recollect  little  else,  and  in  the  other  they  are  nothing, 
and  their   existence    is   hardly  recollected,    while    in 
the  fa?ade  above,  the  English  example  is  the  richer 
of    the    two,    and    the    illustrative    sculpture    which 
in  one  case  is  expended  on  the  portals,  is  in  the  other 
diffused  over  the  whole  front.     In  England  a  magni- 
ficent  portal   is   of  rare  occurrence ;   in   France   one 
looks  for  it  as  a  matter  of  course.     Nothing  more 
glorious  than  the  French  portals  can  be  conceived ; 
the  lofty  and  deeply  receding  jambs  are  divided  in 
their  ample  height  into  two  portions,  the  pedestal  or 
basement  of   which   is   richly   decorated   either   with 
diaper-work  or  with  sculptured  medallions,  or,  as  at 
Amiens,    with   both,    and    the   upper    stage   contains 
colossal  figures  of  Apostles  or  other  holy  men  of  old, 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

who  appear  to  view  with  severe  and  solemn  benignity 
all  who  enter. 

In  the  tympana  are  sculptured  scenes  from  scrip- 
ture history  : — the  Last  Judgment  in  many  instances 
occupying  the  tympanum  of  the  central  doorway, 
when  as  at  Rheims,  Amiens,  Paris  and  Poitiers  there 
are  three,  or  as  at  Bourges,  five  great  portals,  and 
incidents  in  the  lives  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  or  of  the 
saint  to  whom  the  church  was  dedicated  corresponding 
positions  in  the  lateral  ones ;  and  the  mouldings  of 
the  arches  are  probably  filled  with  angelic  figures  as 
if  the  guardians  of  the  faithful  worshippers,  while 
this  impressive  array  of  imagery  is  placed  in  a  setting 
of  the  noblest  and  most  perfect  architecture,  and  that 
on  a  scale  well  suited  to  the  sublimity  of  the  subjects 
expressed. 

One  fa9ade  we  have  which  may  be  said  to  be  peer- 
less, that  of  Peterborough.  Here,  three  vast  arches, 
rising  the  entire  height  of  the  fabric,  cross  the  whole 
west  front ;  the  doorways  behind  them  are  of  the  usual 
modest  dimensions,  but  the  charm  of  this  great  porch 
is  indescribable.  The  deep  shadows  of  the  arches  are 
seen  rising  high  above  the  surrounding  houses  as  the 
city  is  approached  from  the  distance ;  they  are  adorned 
with  line  upon  line  of  moulding,  carried  by  whole 
ranges  of  delicate  shafts,  and  surmounted  by  gables 
filled  with  niches  and  sculpture,  and  circular  windows 
of  rare  beauty,  flanked  and  divided  by  lofty  pinnacles. 
This  may,  in  truth,  be  said  to  be  the  most  poetic 
conception  of  the  thirteenth  century  in  England  ;  it 
deserves  a  pilgrimage  from  the  farthest  part  of  the 
Empire  from  all  those  who  wish  really  to  grasp  the 

176 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

combined  power  and  tenderness  of  thirteenth-century 
art,  and  lives  in  the  recollection  of  all  who  have  seen 
it,  with  ej^es  capable  of  appreciating  it,  as  among  the 
most  lovely  of  man's  creations. 

The  carpentry  of  this  period  was  certainly  not  so 
good  as  the  masonry,  and  this  was  very  clearly  the 
case  in  the  roofs.  These  are  of  oak.  and  the  rafters 
are  framed  together  with  king-posts.  These  often 
resemble  fifteenth-century  work,  but  before  assign- 
ing a  date  the  sections  of  the  tie-beams  and  the 
king-posts,  their  mouldings  and  outline  should  be 
carefully  examined.  Early  English  wooden  roofs  are 
usually  plain  and  without  any  very  marked  character ; 
they  are  of  steep  pitch,  and  either  canted  or  of  a 
circular  form  like  a  barrel  vault,  and  have  tie-beams. 
The  nave  of  Halesowen  Church,  Shropshire,  is  an 
example  of  this  kind.  The  south  aisle  of  the  choir  of 
Rochester  Cathedral  has  a  lean-to  roof  with  moulded 
beams  of  clearly  Early  English  character,  and  there 
is  a  very  remarkable  lean-to  one  at  St  Mary,  Gisburn, 
Yorkshire,  in  the  south  aisle,  and  over  the  nave  a 
gabled  one.  These  will  be  found  figured  in  Plate  51, 
Vol.  iv.,  of  "  The  Spring  Gardens  Sketch-book."  At 
Old  Shoreham  Church,  Sussex,  is  a  tie-beam  with  the 
tooth  ornament  cut  on  the  angles  of  it.  Portions  of 
roofs  of  this  style  occur  more  frequently,  and  though 
generally  mutilated,  yet  retain  enough  of  their  original 
character  to  mark  their  date.  In  South  Moreton 
Church,  Berkshire,  the  tie-beams  and  braces  remain ; 
and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  in  many  instances  the 
original  circular  braces  remain  above  a  flat  plaster 
ceiling.  At  Bradiield,  Berkshire,  and  Upmarden, 

i  M 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Sussex,  the  wall  plate  has  mouldings  of  this  style ;  the 
other  timbers  are  plain,  canted — i.e.  sliced  off  at  the 
corners — and  probably  of  the  same  date.  At  Llan- 
tysilio,  in  Anglesea,  is  a  very  good  small  Early 
English  roof  with  the  nail-head  ornament  cut  at 
intervals  upon  the  beams.  There  are  doubtless  some 
original  roofs  of  this  period  still  hidden  from  view  by 
ceilings  of  lath  and  plaster,  while  many  have,  it  is  to 
be  feared,  vanished  during  the  last  century,  together 
with  other  leaves  out  of  the  book  of  history  in  that 
reckless  work  yclept  "  restoration  '  which,  with 
increased  knowledge  and  reverence  for  ancient  land- 
marks, is  now  conducted  with  greater  care.  There 
are  not  many  Early  English  roofs  in  imitation  of  a 
stone  vault,  but  there  is  one  very  remarkable  late 
example  in  Warmington  Church,  Northamptonshire. 
It  is  quadripartite — that  is  to  say  the  compartment  of 
it  covering  each  bay  of  the  nave  is  divided  into  four 
cells,  and  it  has  the  continuous  ridge  or  longitudinal 
rib  with  bosses  of  rich  foliage  at  the  junction  of  this 
rib  with  the  diagonal  ones.  Such  a  roof  as  this  gives 
so  minster-like  a  character  to  the  nave  of  this 
church — which  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
examples  of  advanced  Early  English  in  the 
country — that  it  is  surprising  it  was  so  seldom  made 
use  of. 

In  the  towers  and  spires  of  the  Early  English 
period  the  custom  of  the  district  affects  the  designs 
very  much.  There  is  a  great  change  herein  from  the 
work  of  the  twelfth  century.  Instead  of  being  large 
and  clumsy  the  towers  were,  as  a  rule,  lofty  in  their 
proportions,  and  surmounted  by  spires.  Stone  spires 


(>.\I  OKI*    LATHI-  DK  \I  . 
(Kirlv    English  Tower  and    Sin; 


T,,  /,,,v  p.    ,7S. 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

of  this  date  as  a  rule  have  no  parapets.  They  just 
overhang  the  walls  of  the  tower,  which  finish  with  an 
eaves  cornice  under  them.  These  eaves  cornices  are 
a  feature  of  the  style.  The  tower  buttresses  mostly 
finish  below  the  belfry,  and  this  is  richly  arcaded  with 
shafts  to  its  windows  and  at  the  angles.  The  spires 
have  "  spire  lights  "  under  gablets,  but  always  on  the 
cardinal  and  not  on  the  obtuse  sides  ;  so  also  buttresses 
are  always  square  and  never  diagonal  as  in  the 
Perpendicular  period.  The  spire  lights  have  shafts 
for  monials,  and  connecting  the  bases  of  the  obtuse 
sides  of  the  spire  with  the  angles  of  the  tower  are 
triangular-shaped  pieces  of  masonry,  termed  broaches, 
which  serve  to  impart  that  appearance  of  easy  grada- 
tion from  the  square  form  of  the  tower  to  the  octagonal 
one  of  the  spire.  This  is  the  leading  characteristic 
of  the  Early  English  steeple,  by  which  is  implied  the 
tower  and  spire  collectively.  Two  most  graceful 
broach  spires  of  this  period  are  at  Polebrook  in 
Northants,  and  Aumsby  in  Lincolnshire.  Occasion- 
ally pinnacles  crown  the  angles  of  the  tower,  as  at 
Oxford  Cathedral,  one  of  the  earliest  of  thirteenth- 
century  spires,  and  at  Leighton  Buzzard,  Bedford- 
shire, Wollaston,  Northants,  Witney,  Oxfordshire, 
and  Southam,  Warwickshire,  where  they  rise  from 
the  broaches. 

Some  knowledge  of  detail  is  required  to  discriminate 
between  an  early  and  a  late  thirteenth-century  spire, 
for  we  frequently  meet  with  an  Early  English  tower 
crowned  with  a  Decorated  spire,  as  at  Ketton,  Warm- 
ington,  and  St  Mary's,  Stamford.  These  three 
steeples  are  most  generally  admired,  and  have  been 

179 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

favourite  models  with  architects  since  the  Gothic 
revival  in  this  country.*  Northamptonshire,  Hunt- 
ingdonshire, Rutlandshire,  Leicestershire,  and  Lin- 
colnshire are  the  counties  where  the  spire  is  almost 
universal,  and  where  it  may  be  seen  to  perfection  in 
every  period  of  architecture. 

It  will  often  be  found  that  the  thirteenth-century 
belfry-stage  was  not  considered  fine  enough  or  lofty 
enough,  and  has  been  surmounted  by  another  at  a  later 
period,  as  ma3<T  be  seen  at  Oakham  and  Grantham.  It 
is  possible  that  we  owe  our  best  spires  of  this  epoch  to 
Normandy,  where  at  a  very  early  date  very  fine 
examples  were  erected  at  Caen  (St  Etienne),  Bayeux, 
and  Coutances  Cathedrals,  and  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  first-named  city  at  Audrieu,  Bernieres, 
Langrune,  Ifs,  Douvres,  and  Bretteville.  One 
of  the  chief  beauties  of  these  Normandy  steeples 
is  the  belfry-stage  of  the  tower  where  the  very  long 
coupled  lancet  openings  richly  adorned  with  shafts 
seem  to  have  been  reproduced  in  that  northern  part 
of  the  province  through  all  the  epochs  of  pointed. 
The  same  elegant  feature  is  common  to  many 
steeples  in  Brittany,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  being 
the  Kreisker  at  St  Pol  de  Leon. 

In  the  same  provinces  of  France,  and  indeed  very 
generally  in  the  north  and  north-eastern  ones  of  that 
country,  the  gabled  or  saddle-back  tower  is  very 
frequently  met  with,  often  on  a  grandiose  scale. 
We  have  nothing  of  this  kind  in  our  mediaeval 

*  vSt  Mary's,  Stamford,  steeple  has  been  copied  at  St  John's, 
South  Hackney,  and  St  Stephen's,  Westbourne  Park,  Paddington  ; 
and  Ketton  in  that  of  St  Martin's,  Leicester. 

I  SO 


ST.     MAI   I  III  AS 

MncliTM     i-\:illl|)lc-     ot     1 


To  /<»(-<•   />.    i So. 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

churches  *  of  such  dimensions  as  those  at  Champagne, 
Auvers,  Villers  St  Paul,  and  Nogent  Les  Vierges, 
places  along  the  course  of  the  Oise,  between  Creil  and 
Pontoise,  or  that  of  the  Seine  between  Rouen  and 
Paris  ;  but  there  are  numerous  instances  of  its  employ- 
ment in  village  churches  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  on  a  minor  scale,  as  at  Tinwell  in  Rutland- 
shire, Bagendon  and  North  Cerney  in  Gloucestershire, 
Ickford  and  Fingest  f  in  Buckinghamshire,  Brigham 
in  Cumberland,  Llanvaches,  Llanhilleth,  Netherwent, 
and  Penalt  in  Monmouthshire,  and  Thorpe-Mande- 
ville  (where  it  is  curiously  combined  with  pinnacles), 
Rothersthorpe,  Cold  Higham,  and  Maidford,  in 
Northamptonshire.  At  Brentingly,  in  Leicester- 
shire, is  a  western  gabled  tower  roofed  with  stone, 
and  on  the  ridge  is  an  octagonal  spirelet,  reminding 
those  who  have  visited  Gottland  of  the  church  at 
Gotham . 

Cabling  a  tower  on  each  side  was  a  very  favourite 
practice  in  the  north  of  Germany,  one  of  the  earliest 
and  grandest  examples  being  the  tower  of  St  Patroclus 
at  Soe'st  (see  illustration  p.  14).  In  the  district 
around  Paderborn  this  kind  of  tower — the  cruciform 
saddle-back  with  a  small  central  pinnacle — is  very 


*  Since  the  Gothic  revival  the  "  saddle-back  "  tower  has  been 
employed  in  several  of  our  large  town  churches.  One  of  the  most 
imposing  examples  of  it  is  the  central  tower  of  St  Matthias.',  Stoke 
Newington,  from  the  designs  of  Buttcrfielcl  (1853). 

f  A  curious  instance  of  two  gables  crowning  one  broad  tower, 
and  as  picturesque  in  its  way  as  the  "  screen  fayade  "  of  the 
Church  at  Neufahnvasser  near  Danzig,  on  which  two  lofty  spires 
of  the  type  so  common  in  Liibeck  and  Luneburg,  are  placed  in 
juxtaposition. 

181 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

common ;  that  of  the  cathedral  there  assuming  this 
form,  until  it  was  surmounted  (and  hardly  improved) 
in  modern  times  by  a  tall  spire  of  wood  covered  with 
lead. 

Our  grandest  and  loftiest  Early  English  tower  is  the 
western  one  of  Ely  Cathedral,  which  was  commenced 
during  the  episcopate  of  Bishop  Ridel  (1174-1189)  and 
completed  either  by  him,  or  his  successor,  Eustace. 

How  this  tower  was  finished  originally  is  not  certain 
for  in  the  fifteenth  century  tall  octagonal  turrets  and 
3  lantern  of  the  same  shape  but  of  no  very  great  merit 
were  added,  but  it  is  probable  that  when  finished 
before  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century  it  was  covered 
by  a  form  of  timber  and  leaded  spire,  which  subse- 
quently became  frequent  in  the  neighbouring  marsh- 
lands;  a  vast  octagonal  pyramid,  surrounded  by  four 
of  smaller  size  rising  from  their  turrets  at  its  angles, 
like  that  we  see  to-day  at  Sutton  St  Mary's. 

Such  a  spire  must  clearly  have  terminated  the 
beautiful  detached  tower  at  West  Walton.  Such  I 
think  existed  on  the  south-west  tower  of  St  Margaret's 
at  Lynn,  and  probably  at  several  of  the  neighbouring 
churches ;  and  all  these,  as  I  imagine,  followed  the 
great  type  first  established  at  Ely,  either  by  Bishop 
Ridel,  or  in  the  next  century  by  Bishop  Northwold. 

The  front  of  Ely  Cathedral,  with  its  tower  thus  ter- 
minated, with  leaded  spires  also  on  the  turrets  flanking 
the  north  and  soutli  ends  of  the  western  transepts,  and 
with  the  high  roofs  on  these  transepts  and  the  western 
porch,  must  have  presented  a  tout  ensemble  of  the 
most  imposing  and  majestic  character. 

Of  Early  English  church  towers,  the  following  are 

182 


I  • 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

among  the  finest  and  most  important  :  in  North- 
amptonshire, St  Mary's,  Stamford, f  and  St  Peter's, 
Raundsf ;  in  Lincolnshire,  Sibsey,f  Sutton  St 
Mary's, f  Whaplode,  and  the  lower  part  of  Gedney; 
in  Leicestershire,  the  first  stage  of  Melton  Mowbray  *  ; 
in  Durham,  the  western  towers  of  the  Cathedral  above 
the  springing  of  the  nave  gable,  and  St  Cuthbert's, 
Darlington  * ;  in  Yorkshire,  Old  Malton ;  in  Notts, 
Thurgarton  ;  in  Beds,  the  lower  part  of  Felmersham  *  ; 
in  Oxon,  Middleton  Stoney;  in  Wilts,  Bishop's 
Canning  f ;  and  in  Norfolk,  West  Walton. 

The  West  Walton  tower,  detached  like  that  at  Long 
Sutton  from  the  church,  is  covered  with  arcading  from 
the  ground  up,  finishing  with  much  later  pinnacles. 
There  was  formerly  a  tall  spire  of  the  same  material, 
in  all  probability  much  like  that  valuable  one  at 
Sutton  St  Mary's,  a  copy  of  which,  though  in  stone, 
may  be  seen  in  one  of  Sir  Gilbert  Scott's  earliest 
London  churches,  St  Matthew,  City  Road.  The 
Sutton  St  Mary  tower  has  angle  turrets  and  lead 
pinnacles ;  West  Walton  tower  terminates  in  quad- 
rangular stone  pinnacles  with  crockets. 

The  original  thirteenth-century  builders  of  our 
cathedrals  usually  erected  central  towers  rising  suffi- 
ciently high  to  receive  the  four  arms  of  the  church — as 
at  Salisbury,  Wells,  Lincoln,  and  St  David's.  At 
Salisbury  the  story  against  which  these  roofs  abutted, 
is  a  very  light  structure,  and  was  intended  to  be  visible 
from  within.  It  is  perforated  in  its  thickness  by  a 
triforium  gallery,  leaving  externally  a  wall  of  little 

*  These  are  central, 
f  These  have  spires. 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

more  than  two  feet  in  thickness,  while  the  interior  con- 
sists of  a  light  arcade  with  Purbeck  marble  shafts. 
The  corner  turrets  have  each  a  staircase,  rendering 
them  mere  shells. 

On    this    frail    structure     the     fourteenth-century 
builders  carried  up  the  vast  tower,  some  eighty  feet 
high,  with  walls  nearly  six  feet  thick,  and  upon  this 
a  spire  rising  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  more.     It 
need  not  then  be  wondered  that  the  older  story,  so 
unduly  loaded,  should  have  become  shattered.     Sub- 
sequent   builders    have    bolstered    it    up    by    flying 
buttresses,  and  by  every  form  of  prop  that  they  could 
invent,  till  the  sectional  area  of  the  added  supports 
exceeded  that  of  the  original  structure.     Still,  how- 
ever, the   crushing  went  on,   and  when   Sir  Gilbert 
Scott  examined  it  earty  in  the  ' '  sixties  ' '  of  the  last 
century,  it  had  proceeded  to  very  alarming  le._&ths. 
In  addition  to  the  numerous  ties  it  already  had,  Scott 
banded  it  together  by  additional  iron  ties,  and  then 
new    stones    were    gradually    inserted    in    place    of 
those    which    were    shattered.     Sir    Gilbert    dared 
not    do    anything    to    the    bent    piers    which    carry 
the  tower.     Their  curvature  appears  to  have  arisen 
from    two    causes,     the     pressure    of    the     arcades 
upon     their     flanks,     and     from     their     backs      or 
flanks  not  consisting  as  do  their  fronts,  of  Purbeck 
marble   closely   bedded,    but   of   compressible   rubble 
walling.      These   two   causes   acting   together   would 
almost  necessarily  produce  flexure.     This  had  been 
remedied  in  the  openings  to  the  transepts  by  building 
' '  strainer     arches  ' :     across     them     at     about     half- 
height. 

184 


SAI.ISBfRY    (  A  1  Hi:i)K.\I.. 
The  Tower  and   Spire,    from    the   cloisters.) 


I'OI.KBKO*  >K    CIU'KCII,    NORTH  \\ll'  I  (  )NSIII  KM- 

(F.nrlv   l-'n^lish    tn\\-rr  ;IIK|    -pii-c.) 
To  lace  p.  184. 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

It  was  the  same  at  Wells,  where  the  fourteenth- 
century  architect  piled  a  huge  pinnacled  tower  on  to 
a  thirteenth-century  substructure  supported  on  arches 
designed  to  carry  only  a  certain  weight.  To  remedy 
this,  those  inverted  arches  which  form  so  striking  a 
feature  of  the  interior  of  Wells  Cathedral  were  inserted 
within  the  arches  opening  into  the  nave  and  transepts. 

At  St  David's  there  is  documentary  evidence  of  the 
fall  of  the  great  tower  in  1220,  by  which  the  transepts 
and  eastern  limb  appear  to  have  been  crushed — ' '  Nova 
turris  Meneviae  Ecclesiae  die  Lunae  ante  festum  S. 
Martini  statim  post  vesperas  in  ruinam  improvisam 
versa  est."  (Annales  Cambriae.)  The  cause  was  the 
failure  of  the  two  eastern  piers.  In  rebuilding  the 
tower,  the  two  western  piers  were  left  standing  so 
that  it  was  supported  on  columns  of  unequal  strength, 
puring  the  six  centuries  which  followed  the  rebuild- 
ing, the  height  of  the  tower  was  greatly  increased, 
first  in  the  fourteenth  century  by  Bishop  Gower,  and 
again  in  the  sixteenth  by  Bishop  Vaughan.  The  two 
eastern  piers  bore  the  superincumbent  mass  well,  but 
the  original  western  ones  had  become  crushed  literally 
to  fragments.  At  one  time  a  vast  wall  had  been  erected 
between  the  piers,  displacing  half  the  width  of  Bishop 
Gower 's  exquisite  choir-screen  ;  but  this  abutment  was 
insufficient.  One  transept  arch  had  also  been  walled 
up,  as  had  that  opening  to  the  nave,  though  this  latter 
had  been  reopened  before  Sir  Gilbert  Scott  was  called 
in,  about  1864.  Not  only  were  the  two  older  piers 
thus  shattered,  but  very  much  of  the  superstructure 
also,  while  the  later  stories  above  were  split  from  top 
to  bottom  by  gaping  cracks  of  great  width. 

185 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

By  united  engineering  and  architectural  skill  St 
David's  tower. was  preserved  from  utter  collapse,  and 
its  effect  now  internally,  with  the  four  arches  of  its 
lantern  rising  from  graceful  shafts,  the  arcades  above, 
and  the  richly  decorated  timber  groined  roof  over  all, 
is  very  charming ;  indeed  the  interior  effect  of  this 
central  tower  of  St  David's  is  as  fine  as  anything  in  the 
range  of  English  architecture. 

At  Lincoln,  where  the  Early  English  tower  of 
Bishop  Grostete  rises  higher  above  the  roofs  than  in 
those  of  the  same  epoch  elsewhere,  the  arches  have 
always  stood  well  the  stately  addition  made  by  Bishop 
John  of  Dalderby  in  the  fourteenth  century. 

A  pretty  feature  of  the  small  Early  English  village 
church  is  the  gabled  belfry,  or  as  it  is  usually  styled 
"  bell-cot."  It  is  sometimes  placed  at  the  junction  of 
the  nave  and  chancel  as  at  Skelton,  but  more  frequently 
it  crowns  the  western  gable  where,  especially  if  it  is 
in  conjunction  with  buttresses,  it  forms  a  very  pleasing 
feature.  Admirable  models  of  bell-cotes  are  to  be  seen 
at  Binsey,  Forest  Hill  and  Toot-Baldon  in  Oxford- 
shire ;  Inglesham  in  Wiltshire ;  Northborough, 
Northants ;  Long  Stanton,  Cambridgeshire;  Howell, 
Lincolnshire  ;  and  Little  Casterton,  Manton  and  Whit- 
well,  Rutlandshire;  where  this  feature  seems  to  have 
been  mostly  localised.  At  Peakirk,  in  Lincolnshire, 
the  bell-cote  is  built  with  a  "  set  off,"  dividing  it  into 
two  stages,  the  lower  and  wider  one  being  pierced  with 
openings  for  two  bells,  and  the  upper  with  a  similar 
aperture  for  one  bell.  At  Forest  Hill  (about  two  miles 
and  a  half  from  Oxford,  the  bell  gable  is  a  remarkably 
picturesque  object  and  from  its  situation  is  visible  from 

186 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

a  considerable  distance.  It  appears  to  be  part  of  the 
original  building  of  transitional  work,  but  has  had 
two  very  tall  and  deep  buttresses  attached  on  the  west 
side  to  support  it.  The  gabled  bell-cote  is,  however, 
not  confined  to  England.  We  frequently  meet  it  on  the 
Continent,  particularly  in  Spain  and  Italy,  where  as  a 
rule  it  is  not  built  in  the  positions  above  alluded  to, 
but  upon  some  structure  contiguous  to  the  church.  It 
seems  to  have  continued  in  use  quite  late  in  the 
Renaissance  period  (several  very  charming  flat-topped 
bell-cotes  of  this  epoch  being  in  Cordova)  when  it  was 
made  to  assume  a  variety  of  forms.  Of  Italian  Gothic 
bell-cotes  there  is  hardly  a  more  pleasing  example  than 
that  on  the  western  gable  of  the  little  chapel  of  San 
Matteo  at  Perugia.  The  vertical  portion  is  very  tall 
and  divided  into  two  stages  by  a  string-course  upon 
which  the  two  trefoil-headed  openings  for  the  bells 
rest,  while  within  the  gable  itself  are  two  smaller  aper- 
tures occupying  the  whole  height  of  the  triangular 
space.  The  ensemble  of  this  little  belfry  at  Perugia 
is  charming,  and  so  English-looking,  that  it  might 
be  appropriately  laid  under  contribution  for  a  small 
country  church. 

Thirteenth-century  sculpture  is  of  two  kinds — 
foliaged  and  figured.  That  of  foliage  shows  a  great 
development  on  what  had  gone  before.  The  best 
capitals  of  the  transitional  epoch  were  copied,  as 
mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter,  from  Corinthian, 
and  in  French  work  natural  foliage  was  to  some  extent 
grafted  on  this.  Early  English  foliage  is  marked  by 
its  extreme  gracefulness.  The  same  sense  of  beauty 
which  made  the  architect's  design  so  graceful  naturally 

187 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

produced  this  result.  The  idea  was  as  a  rule  not  to 
copy  natural  foliage,  but  to  give  a  conventionalised 
representation  of  the  essential  facts  of  Nature.  The 
variety  is  great,  but  the  commonest  form  gives  us 
either  capitals  with  distinct,  but  regularly  arranged 
masses  of  foliage,  growing  firmly  and  very  gracefully 
from  the  neck  of  the  shaft,  or  another  variety  gives 
capitals  with  a  continuous  mass  of  foliage.*  In  addi- 
tion to  this  enriched  carving  of  capitals  other  occa- 
sions for  its  use  were  devised.  One  of  the  most 
characteristic  is  the  custom  of  diapering  the  plain 
surface  of  a  wall,  as  at  Westminster  Abbey  in  the 
spandrels  of  the  arches  in  Henry  III.  and  Edward  I.'s 
portions  of  the  work.  The  delicacy  of  these  diapers 
is  extreme,  especially  some  in  the  arcading  round  the 
walls  of  the  chapter-house.  Another  one  is  the  carved 
decoration  of  mouldings ;  sometimes  with  foliage, 

*  As  examples  of  that  bold  yet  delicately  foliaged  ornament  in 
which  the  thirteenth-century  artificers  in  England  excelled,  I  may 
name  the  pier  capitals  in  the  choir  and  Lady  Chapel  of  Worcester 
Cathedral ;  the  transepts  of  York ;  the  nave  and  transepts  of 
Lincoln;  the  retro-choirs  of  Chichester  (very  early),  and  Winches- 
ter; the  presbytery  of  Ely  ;  the  eastern  bay  of  the  choir  of  Durham  ; 
Pershore  Abbey,  Worcestershire;  St  Mary-le-Wigford,  Lincoln; 
West  Walton  Church,  Norfolk;  All  Saints,  Stamford  ;  the  Elder 
Lady  Chapel  in  Bristol  Cathedral ;  Skelton  Church  (near  York)  ; 
Warmington  Church  (Northants)  ;  St  Helen's,  Abingdon  (inner 
doorway  of  tower)  ;  Bridlington  Priory  (Yorks),  north  porch  ;  St 
Candida,  Whitchurch — Canonicorum  (Dorset),  north  arcade  of  nave. 
The  foliaged  ornament  in  Wells  Cathedral  is  of  a  type  peculiar 
to  Somerset ;  it  crossed  the  Bristol  Channel,  for  we  find  pier 
capitals  exactly  similar  at  Berkeley  in  Gloucestershire,  and 
Llandafi  Cathedral.  Cross  the  Irish  Sea,  and  it  appears  in  Christ 
Church  Cathedral,  Dublin.  Much  delicate  carved  work  of  this 
epoch  may  be  looked  for  in  fonts,  sedilia,  piscinre,  and  other 
accessories  of  Divine  worship. 

1 88 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

oftener  with  the  dog-tooth.  This  was  for  giving 
emphasis  to  a  moulding,  and  was  a  development  from 
the  Romanesque  nail-head,  which  was  also  still  used. 
Foliage  was  also  used  for  stopping  mouldings  under 
capitals,  for  covering  a  transition  from  the  circular  to 
the  square  portion  of  a  base,  and  for  the  ends  of  cusps. 
In  England  perhaps  no  architectural  foliage  has  ever 
excelled  that  of  the  first  half  of  the  thirteenth  century 
for  purity,  boldness  of  treatment  and  effects  of  light 
and  shade.  It  is,  however,  too  conventional  for  the 
purposes  of  modern  art.  It  is  engrafted  with,  and 
forms  a  portion  of  the  architecture  of  that  period,  and 
can  therefore  be  used  at  the  present  day  merely  as  a 
revival,  without  becoming  a  part  of  the  architecture 
of  the  Gothic  revival.  There  is  great  need  to  guard 
against  this  conventionality,  which  is  prone  to  descend 
to  mere  mannerism,  to  the  exclusion  of  natural  forms 
and  features,  as  was  so  evident  in  the  ornament  of  the 
Perpendicular  period. 

The  treatment  of  foliaged  ornament  for  the  pur- 
poses of  architectural  ornament  must,  more  or  less,  be 
always  geometrical  and  symmetrical,  in  accordance 
with  its  situation  and  purpose ;  first,  as  to  the  arrange- 
ment of  branches  constituting  the  leading  ornamental 
lines;  second,  as  to  the  forms  of  leaves  and  flowers; 
third,  as  to  conditions  of  light  and  shade;  fourth,  the 
position  it  is  intended  to  occupy,  whether  near  the  eye, 
or  at  a  distance  from  it,  and  lastly,  the  material  of 
which  the  ornament  is  to  be  executed.  Animal  form, 
interwoven  with  forms  from  the  vegetable  kingdom  has 
almost  always  entered  to  a  great  extent  into  every  kind 
of  decoration,  evidenced,  among  other  instances,  in  the 

189 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

conventional  representation  of  the  lion  in  the  various 
types  assumed  by  the  Assyrian,  Greek,  Roman, 
Romanesque,  and  mediaeval  periods  down  to  the 
sixteenth  century,  each  age  possessing  the  peculiar 
characteristics  of  its  own  system  of  art.  One  mode  of 
rendering  animal  and  vegetable  form  consisted  in 
representing  them  merely  by  the  aid  of  two  colours  in 
painting  and  inlay,  or  two  surfaces  in  sculpture, 
leaving  the  object  to  be  shown,  in  its  simple  block 
form,  and  trusting  entirely  to  its  outline  for  expres- 
sion. Such  having  been  the  case  in  Egyptian  and 
Assyrian  ornament,  Roman  mosaic  pavements,  the 
"  wall  veil  "  inlays  of  Italian  art,  tapestry  and  woven 
tissues,  and  our  own  mediaeval  tiles,  brasses,  wall- 
paintings,  heraldry  and  manuscripts.  No  people  have 
more  beautifully  idealised  the  vegetable  world  than  the 
Egyptians,  as  in  their  treatment  of  the  lotus-leaf.  In 
Assyrian  ornament  is  to  be  observed  a  development 
of  the  Greek  form  of  ornament  connected  by  the 
scollop  or  semicircle  shown  on  an  ivory  in  the  British 
Museum,  which  represents  a  fully  expanded  flower 
alternating  with  a  circular  bud  or  pomegranate.  The 
highest  form  of  foliated  sculpture,  however,  is  that 
which  expresses  some  thought  or  idea  beyond  the  mere 
combination  of  leaf  form,  adopting  some  mode  of 
symbolical  expression.  Mediaeval  artists  expressed 
belief  in  the  Trinity  by  triple  foliage  and  other  triune 
arrangements  of  form  ;  and  of  their  faith  in  Christian- 
ity by  the  constant  development  of  various  forms  of 
the  Cross.  The  foliage  of  the  Anglo-Norman  period 
is  remarkable  for  its  great  vigour  and  expression,  and 
contains  the  most  clever  developments  of  elegant  lines, 

190 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— con  tinned 

combined  with  great  simplicity  of  light  and  shade; 
and  in  the  doorways  in  particular  the  sculpture 
evinces  the  highest  and  most  artistic  treatment. 
Very  little  undulation  of  surface  is  necessary  for  the 
sculptured  representation  of  leaves,  where  the  ground 
should  be  deeply  recessed  for  shadow,  thereby  giving 
greater  brilliancy  to  their  radiating  or  other  forms 
which  would  be  otherwise  impaired  by  a  superabun- 
dance of  light  and  shade.  Nature  should  be  con- 
stantly studied,  rather  than  the  merely  inanimate 
form  ;  she  should  be  watched  and  examined  at  different 
periods  of  the  year,  and  viewed  from  different  posi- 
tions ;  and  every  part  of  a  plant  that  strikes  the  eye  by 
its  elegance  of  form  should  be  carefully  examined  and 
drawn  to  form  a  store  for  future  use  in  designing 
ornamental  art.  All  carved  ornament  placed  on  a 
surface,  whether  leafage,  flowers  or  fruit,  should  be 
carved  out  of,  or  within,  the  surface  itself;  that  is, 
the  ground  from  which  the  ornament  springs  should 
be  recessed  or  sunk,  the  subject  being,  as  it  were, 
contained  in  a  panel,  thereby  giving  truthfulness  to 
the  work,  and  avoiding  that  stuck-on  appearance  that 
was  so  commonly  practised  in  modern  architecture  in 
the  earlier  stages  of  the  Gothic  revival,  where  the 
ornamentation,  being  placed  outside,  hangs  fre- 
quently in  festoons  over  the  surface  to  be  decorated, 
instead  of  being  formed  within  it  and  becoming  a 
portion  of  the  work  itself.  Architecture  thereby 
becomes  a  mere  peg  upon  which  to  hang  the  fancies 
of  the  decorative  artist,  whose  object  is  to  cover  up  the 
architecture  wherever  he  can  extend  his  ornamenta- 
tion— a 'system  which  is  not  only  confined  to  sculpture 

191 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

but  to  painting,  as  witness  the  manner  in  which  some 
of  the  finest  conceptions  of  modern  architects  have 
been  bedizened — to  the  lowest  depths  of  degradation ; 
for  ornamentation  thus  appears  to  be  endeavouring  to 
usurp  its  place — a  vicious  principle  which  cannot  be 
too  strongly  condemned. 

The  Early  English  style  is  not  more  remarkable 
for  its  differences  from  the  preceding  style  in  the 
forms  of  arches,  columns,  and  mouldings  than  for  the 
increased  use  of  foliage  ornament.  Speaking  gener- 
ally, in  the  Norman  buildings  foliage  was  restricted 
to  the  capitals  and  bases,  and  sometimes  the  shafts  of 
the  columns,  and  to  the  ornaments  of  doors  or  window 
arches.  In  the  Early  English  not  only  was  foliage 
introduced  in  the  adornment  of  vestments  and  church 
furniture,  but  the  invention  among  others  of  the 
crocket,  the  cusp,  the  finial,  and  it  may  be  said  the 
boss,  and  the  diaper,  supplied  new  means  of  using 
this  kind  o'f  ornament,  of  which  the  architects  and 
sculptors  took  advantage.  There  are  not  many  who 
will  dispute  that  the  Early  English  foliage  excels  that 
of  every  other  period  in  England,  and  will  hold  its 
own  if  compared  with  the  ornament  of  any  style  or 
time. 

The  characteristics  of  the  foliage  of  the  different 
periods  of  English  work  strike  one  with  almost  fresli 
force  when  the  examples  are  brought  together  in  suc- 
cessive pages  drawn  to  a  similar  scale,  and  it  would 
appear  almost  by  the  same  hand,  so  that  there  is  no 
distraction  from  the  peculiarities  of  draughtsmen,  as, 
for  instance,  in  Mr  J.  K.  Ceiling's  "  Examples  of 
English  Mediaeval  Foliage"  published  in  1874.  It 

192 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

requires  but  a  glance  through  this  delightful  book  to 
see  that  although  there  was  a  remarkable  develop- 
ment of  some  parts  of  the  Norman  ornament,  and  a 
gradual  approach  to  Early  English  during  the  time  of 
the  first  transition,  yet  there  was  much  which  must 
have  been  derived  from  fresh  invention,  and  therefore 
there  was  sufficient  to  mark  the  starting  of  a  new 
period  then,  however  difficult  it  might  be  to  draw  the 
boundary  between  other  periods.  For  instance,  the 
abandonment  of  the  square  for  the  round  abacus  was 
a  remarkable  event  by  itself,  almost  enough  to  con- 
stitute a  period,  although  we  cannot  account  for  it, 
or  for  the  general  adoption  of  the  new  form,  any  more 
than  for  some  other  circumstances  in  the  history  of 
English  architecture.  Even  towards  the  end  of  the 
semi-Norman  or  transition  time,  the  leaves  that  were 
wrought  on  the  capitals  generally  were  lobed  or 
serrated  from  the  springing,  a  practice  inherited  from 
the  Roman  sculptors,  and  a  leaf  of  one  species  was  often 
wrought  upon  the  face  of  another  of  a  different  kind, 
there  being  no  .undercutting  between  them.  But  in 
the  Early  English,  not  only  in  capitals,  but  in  other 
sculpture,  the  effect  was  produced  mainly  by  using 
but  one  form  of  conventional  foliage,  and  arranging 
it  so  as  to  give  flowing  curves.  In  a  capital  what 
may  be  called  the  lower  zone  depended  for  effect  upon 
the  strong  lines  of  the  ribs  or  stems  with  which  the 
overhanging  lobes  contrasted  finely,  and  in  the  sculp- 
ture with  which  spaces  like  spandrels  were  filled,  the 
stem  was  an  important  feature.  The  effect  of  the 
simple  forms  was  heightened  by  the  deep  under- 
cutting, so  that  the  capitals  especially  have  a  play  of 

193  N 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

light  and  shade  beyond  all  others.  We  see  this  in 
such  work  as  the  pier  capitals  in  the  Lady  Chapel  of 
Worcester  Cathedral,  in  the  presbytery  of  Ely,  and  in 
that  typical  range  of  Early  English  columns  com- 
posed of  a  cylinder  with  four  slender  shafts  grouped 
round  it  at  West  Walton.  The  light  and  shade  is 
similar  in  principle  to  the  plain  mouldings  of  the 
style,  where  we  see  the  beads  and  bowtells  separated 
by  deep,  cavernous  hollows.  Nothing  can  be  more 
harmonious  than  the  combination  of  the  characteristic 
mouldings,  and  the  vigorous  foliage  of  this  epoch. 

Towards  the  latter  half  of  the  thirteenth  century 
the  custom  of  copying  natural  foliage  was  much 
adopted,  as  at  Southwell  Minster,  in  the  chapter-house. 
This  was  beautifully  executed,  and  under  certain  con- 
ditions may  be  allowed ;  but  it  is  inferior  in  excellence 
and  in  skilfulness  to  conventionalised  work. 

This  leafage  is  always  very  luxuriant,  growing  in 
very  strong  curves  with  extremely  good  light  and 
shade,  and  often  undercut  in  the  most  elaborate 
manner.  The  leaves  generally  exhibit  some  variety 
of  trefoil ;  no  architectural  foliage  is  so  good  as  this 
usually  was. 

The  spandrels  of  the  wall  arcading  in  Westminster 
Abbey  and  Stone  Church  with  leafage  round  the  arch 
mouldings  are  specially  worth  studying.  Sculpture 
of  the  higher  sort,  of  figures  and  groups  was  not  so 
common  in  England  as  in  France.  The  west  front 
of  Wells  Cathedral  is  the  finest  we  possess  ;  those  of 
Salisbury  and  Lichfield,  where  every  space  in  which 
a  statue  once  stood  has  received  its  complement 
of  late  years,  ranking  next.  But  we  may  look  at 

194 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

Westminster,  at  the  angels  in  the  spandrels  of  the 
transept  windows,  and  at  the  bronze  figures  of 
Henry  III.  and  Queen  Eleanor  on  their  monuments. 

These  are  thoroughly  fine  works  of  art ;  they  were 
executed  by  Torel — an  Englishman — and  in  a  style 
which  makes  one  proud  of  him  even  if  his  work  be 
compared  with  the  best  of  the  contemporary  Italian 
artists,  such  as  the  Pisani.  The  best  sculpture  is 
generally  that  of  recumbent  effigies  on  monuments. 
At  Higham  Ferrers,  in  the  tympanum  of  the  west 
door  are  ten  small  groups  within  medallions  *  ;  and  the 
Fine  Art  Courts  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  the  Victoria 
and  Albert  Museum,  and  the  Architectural  Museum 
in  Tufton  Street  afford  more  ample  opportunity  of 
studying  this  art  than  most  of  our  old  buildings,  so 
complete  has  been  the  destruction  of  figure  sculpture 
in  our  churches,  thanks  to  Puritanical  fanaticism. 

Early  English  draperies  always  hung  in  straight 
and  simple  folds ;  the  figures  are  always  draped, 
generally  picturesquely  posed,  and  subjects  are  very 
simple  in  their  stor}?-,  and  not  at  all  complicated  in 
their  treatment. 

The  carving  of  mediaeval  sculptors  is  never  more 
delightful  than  when  the  subjects  are  flowers.  Their 
figure  compositions  are  often  puzzling,  not  merely 

*  These  represent,  in  the  sinister  half  of  the  tympanum,  the 
salutation  of  Mary  and  Elizabeth ;  the  angel  appearing  to 
Zacharias ;  the  Epiphany ;  our  Lord  in  the  Temple ;  and  His 
Baptism.  In  the  dexter  half,  the  Crucifixion;  the  Annunciation; 
the  Disciples  at  the  Sepulchre  (which  is  shown  as  a  coffin  resting 
on  a  trefoiled  arcade,  through  which  are  seen  the  soldiers  as  in 
an  Easter  sepulchre)  and  the  descent  into  Hell.  The  vault  of 
the  shallow  porch  before  this  door  is  richly  diapered. 

195 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

from  the  indifference  to  created  examples  which  they 
reveal,  but  from  the  delight  seen  in  exhibiting  scenes 
of  punishment  which  was  never  much  of  a  character- 
istic with  artists,  unless  they  were  men  with  unequili- 
briated  minds,  like  Michael  Angelo  and  William 
Blake.  The  fragments  of  carving  from  the  pedestal 
of  the  shrine  of  St  Frideswide  which  were  found  in 
various  places  near  Oxford  Cathedral  about  twenty 
years  ago  are  charming  examples  of  that  power  which 
came  from  affection  for  floral  ornament.  The  saint 
found  her  mission  in  solacing  the  Gurths  and  other 
serfs  and  outlaws  who  lived  in  the  Abingdon  woods. 
The  sculptors  therefore  almost  concealed  her  figure, 
and  filled  the  spandrels  with  such  simples  as  were  to 
be  found  in  the  district,  and  which  the  saint  was  likely 
to  employ  with  her  patients.  The  plants  are  so  faith- 
fully represented  that  Mr  Druce,  the  author  of  "  The 
Flora  of  Oxfordshire,"  was  able  to  identify  them,  and 
he  testifies  that  they  are  all  to  be  found  near  Binsey, 
the  modern  name  of  the  place  where  the  Saxon  saint's 
hospice  was  set  up.  Among  them  are  sycamore, 
maple,  celandine,  columbine,  hogsweed,  crowsfoot, 
oak,  ivy,  etc.  The  monument  is  supposed  to  have 
measured  seven  feet  in  its  length,  and  it  was  six  feet 
in  height,  and  it  must  have  been  among  the  most 
perfect  of  English  works  of  its  age  and  class.  Appar- 
ently it  was  the  "  new  shrine  "  mentioned  in  some 
legal  deeds  in  1269. 

Supplemented  by  modern  work  St  Frideswide 's 
shrine  has  been  rebuilt  and  replaced  in  what  was  no 
doubt  its  original  position  in  front  of  the  Lady  Altar, 
the  painted  decorations  on  the  groining  and  on  the 

196 


THE   EARLY   ENGLISH   STYLE— continued 

arches  of  the  bay  opposite  the  rich  altar  tomb  of  Lady 
Elizabeth  Montacute  indicating  that  this  was  the 
locality  destined  for  it — the  first  of  the  two  chapels 
adjoining  the  north  aisle  of  the  choir  in  the  cathedral 
of  Oxford. 

The  decorative  work  of  this  age  is  to  be  studied  as 
well  in  London  as  anywhere.  To  say  nothing  of  what 
may  be  seen  in  museums,  let  us  consider  what  we  have 
at  Westminster.  To  begin  with,  there  are  the  pave- 
ments of  Edward  the  Confessor's  Chapel  and  before 
the  high  altar.  They  are  of  opus  Romanum ;  the 
latter  was  given  to  the  church  by  Abbot  Ware,  and 
finished  in  1268.  It  is  similar  in  style  to  the  pave- 
ments in  many  Italian  churches,  and  an  admirable 
example.  This  pavement  in  the  "  sacrarium  '  of 
the  abbey  should  be  examined  carefully  and  the 
difference  noted  between  it  and  that  in  the  Confessor's 
Chapel,  which  is  probably  an  English  imitation.  Of 
the  same  period  are  the  encaustic  tiles  in  the  chapter- 
house— some  of  the  best  in  England  in  execution, 
though  not  the  most  fitting  in  design.  They  repre- 
sent traceried  windows,  intersecting  squares  and 
circles,  and  very  elaborate  foliage.  Then  again 
there  is  the  shrine  of  the  Confessor,  another  work, 
like  the  pavement,  of  Italian  origin,  the  wooden 
sedilia,  and  the  coronation  chair,  the  enamelled 
figure  of  William  de  Valence,  the  painted  altar 
frontal  or  retable,  the  ironwork  in  front  of  Queen 
Eleanor's  tomb — all  of  them  works  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  by  a  careful  examination  of  which  some  idea 
may  be  gained  of  how  a  church  well-furnished 
throughout  at  that  period  looked.  Nor,  although 

197 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

belonging  to  a  much  more  subsequent  period  must  we 
overlook  two  of  the  finest  monumental  brasses  in 
England — those  of  John  Waltham,  Bishop  of  Salis- 
bury and  Lord  High  Treasurer  of  England  (ob.  1395), 
in  the  Chapel  of  St  Edward  the  Confessor ;  and  of 
Robert  Waldeby,  Archbishop  of  York  (ob.  1397),  in 
the  Chapel  of  St  Edmund  the  King,  both  in  West- 
minster Abbey.  These  two  brasses  are  especially 
valuable  to  students  of  the  episcopal  vestments  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  both  bishops  being  in  full  Mass 
vestments,  viz.  alb  with  embroidered  hem,  fringed 
dalmatic,  oval  shaped  and  orphreyed  chasuble, 
minutely  worked  amice,  embroidered  mitre  and  shoes, 
and  jewelled  gloves.  Their  effigies  stand  beneath 
tripled  ogee  arches,  with  pinnacles  between  them,  and 
the  borders  represent  series  of  small  arched  niches 
containing  figures. 

During  the  twelfth  centur}-  stained  glass  was  almost 
always  of  one  description — a  mosaic  of  rich  colour. 
In  the  first  sixty  years  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
though  to  some  extent  the  mode  of  design  was  similar, 
the  details  were  more  elegant,  and  the  use  of  white 
glass  was  more  developed.  The  principles  on  which 
it  was  designed  were  simple  and  true.  Pot-metal  was 
used  for  colour,  stain  being  seldom  used  until  the  end 
of  the  century.  The  drawing  and  the  arrangement  of 
subjects  in  oblong  panels  or  medallions  with  white 
glass  between  is  one  of  the  leading  characteristics  of 
this  branch  of  ecclesiastical  art  at  this  period.  The 
lead  work  followed  leading  lines,  and  the  ironwork 
followed  the  general  scheme,  and  added  much  to  the 
effect.  The  drawing  of  details  of  stained  glass  was 

198 


THE   EARLY   ENGLISH   STYLE— continued 

extremely  bold  and  careful ;  generally  it  was  strongly 
outlined,  and  leaves  were  filled  in  with  delicate  lines 
instead  of  shading.  This  is  entirely  correct  in  prin- 
ciple, and  although  I  have  the  greatest  admiration 
for  the  Decorated  and  early  Perpendicular  stained 
glass,  I  always  feel  on  looking  at  that  of  the  first  half 
of  the  thirteenth  century  that  nonfe  surpasses  it  in 
brilliancy  and  force  of  colouring.  The  design  was 
also  never  a  mere  imitation  of  stonework,  but  always 
a  genuine  design  made  for  glass  and  suitable  for 
nothing  else.  The  introduction  of  grisaille  was 
one  of  the  beauties  of  this  style.  The  manner  in 
which  the  ironwork  of  the  windows  was  designed  to 
harmonise  with  the  glass  is  well  worthy  of  notice ; 
and  in  some  cases  it  is  almost  as  beautiful. 

Although  we  have  no  such  collections  of  early 
thirteenth-century  glass  in  our  cathedrals  and  churches 
such  as  may  be  seen  at  Amiens,  Auxerre,  Bourges, 
Chartres,  Poitiers  and  Sens — religious  fanaticism, 
culpable  neglect,  private  cupidity  and  ignorance 
having  done  their  worst  for  us  in  this  respect — we 
may  point  with  pride  to  the  work  in  the  tall  broad 
lancet  windows  of  the  Trinity  Chapel  and  "  Becket's 
Crown  "  in  Canterbury  Cathedral.  These  windows 
are  perhaps  the  finest  in  Europe,  excelling  in  many 
respects  those  in  the  French  churches  alluded  to,  and 
they  display  drawing  as  accurate  and  classically 
correct  as  that  of  the  purest  ages  of  art,  great  value 
being  given  to  the  brilliant  hues  by  the  liberal  use  of 
white  and  neutral  tints.  The  scrolls  and  borders 
surrounding  the  medallions  are  also  of  extreme  beauty. 
The  three  windows  remaining  in  the  Trinity  Chapel 

199 


are  entirely  devoted — as  were  all  the  rest — to  the 
miracles  of  Becket,  which  of  course  commenced  imme- 
diately on  the  death  of  that  prelate,  to  whom,  as 
visions  declared,  a  place  had  been  assigned  between 
the  Apostles  and  martyrs,  preceding  even  St  Stephen, 
who  had  been  killed  by  aliens,  whilst  Thomas  was 
killed  by  his  own. 

At  York  Minster  its  unrivalled  collection  of  stained 
glass  dates  almost  entirely  from  the  later  part  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  but  in  the  northern  clerestory  of 
the  nave,  in  the  second  window  counting  from  the  west 
there  is  a  portion  of  a  Jesse,  the  date  of  which  is 
about  1 200.  It  is  therefore  much  older  than  the 
greater  part  of  the  Early  English  glass  at  Canterbury. 
This  piece  of  glass  may  have  been  taken  from  one  of 
the  windows  in  the  Norman  nave  which  was  gradually 
removed  during  the  erection  of  the  present  one  (1285- 
1345).  Much  Early  English  glass,  varying  in  date 
from  the  beginning  to  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  has  been  employed  to  fill  the  wheel  of  tracery 
in  the  head  of  the  above- mentioned  window,  as  well  as 
the  wheels  in  the  tracery  of  the  five  next  clerestory 
windows.  The  upper  tier  of  subjects  in  the  lower 
lights  of  the  fifth  and  seventh  windows  counting 
from  the  west  on  the  north  side  of  the  clerestory  are 
also  Early  English.  A  subject  of  the  same  period 
is  inserted  in  one  of  the  lower  lights  of  the  sixth 
clerestory  window  counting  from  the  west.  The 
wheels  in  the  tracery  of  all  but  three  of  the  clerestory 
windows  on  the  south  side  of  the  nave  are  likewise 
filled  with  Early  English  glass  ;  and  glass  paintings 
of  this  epoch  are  also  to  be  found  amongst  the  subjects 

200 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

in  their  lower  lights.  In  England  as  in  France  it  was 
frequently  the  custom  to  transfer  the  stained  glass 
from  a  window  of  an  earlier  period  to  one  of  later  date. 
This  may  be  seen  at  St  Radegonde's,  Poitiers, 
where  very  early  thirteenth-century  glass  has  been 
taken  from  coupled  lancet  windows  and  replaced  in 
one  of  five  or  more  lights  of  the  Decorated  period. 

At  York  the  quintuplet  of  lancets  known  as  the 
"  Five  Sisters  "  in  the  north  transept  retain  their 
original  Early  English  glass,  consisting  of  diapered 
patterns  varying  in  each  window,  and  of  very  great 
beauty.  The  narrow  white  border  which  surrounds 
each  window  was  inserted  in  1715.  The  glass  in  the 
five  upper  lancets  is  modern. 

In  his  "  History  of  York  Cathedral  "  Gent  tells  us 
that  there  is  a  tradition  of  five  maiden  ladies  having 
defrayed  the  cost  of  these  five  lancet  windows,  and  that 
the  painted  glass  in  them,  representing  a  kind  of 
embroidery  or  needlework,  might  perhaps  give  occa- 
sion for  the  story.  (Vide  the  storv  in  "  Nicholas 
Nickleby  "— "The  Five  Sisters  of  "York.")  The 
truth  is  perhaps  that  the  name  arose  from  the  equal 
dimensions  of  the  five  lancets. 

Our  largest  and  most  complete  example  of  the 
stained  glass  of  this  period  is  the  rose  window  in  the 
north  transept  of  Lincoln  Cathedral.  The  tracery  in 
the  centre  of  the  circle  is  composed  of  one  large 
quatrefoil,  the  ends  of  the  cusps  being  prolonged  to 
an  ornament  of  four  curved  sides  ;  in  the  middle  of  it, 
in  the  spaces  formed  by  the  lobes  of  the  quatrefoil 
with  the  rim  of  the  circle,  are  small  tref oiled  openings. 
Between  this  large  central  quatrefoil  and  the  three 

201 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

orders  of  mouldings  which  form  the  setting  of  the  rose 
are  sixteen  plain  circles.  Not  only  the  glass  which 
fills  it  but  the  window  itself  is  one  of  the  most  splendid 
and  perfect  works  of  its  age  and  class  in  England. 
It  is  probably  part  of  St  Hugh's  design,  and  together 
with  the  glass  may  date  from  soon  after  1200,  but  the 
stonework  on  the  interior  was,  until  Mr  Pearson's 
careful  restoration  of  the  transept  forty  years  ago,  in 
a  condition  of  great  rudeness,  owing  to  the  repairs 
which  had  been  made  from  time  to  time  for  the 
preservation  of  the  glazing.  The  subject  of  the  glass 
is  "  The  Church  on  Earth  and  the  Church  in 
Heaven."  The  great  central  quatrefoil  is  occupied 
with  a  representation  of  the  Blessed  in  Heaven,  with 
Christ  sitting  in  the  midst.  Each  of  the  four  trefoils 
in  the  angles  formed  by  the  quatrefoil  contains  the 
figure  of  an  angel  tossing  a  thurible.  The  eight  small 
circles  at  their  sides  contain  four-leafed  ornaments. 
The  sixteen  circles  which  form  the  outer  part  of  the 
window  set  forth  the  mysterious  scheme  of  man's 
redemption  and  the  efficacy  of  the  Church.  The 
topmost  of  these  circles  represents  our  Lord  seated  on 
a  rainbow  and  displaying  the  Five  Wounds.  The 
two  next  circles  on  either  side  contain  angels  support- 
ing the  Cross,  and  other  instruments  of  the  Passion. 
In  the  next  circle  on  each  side  are  holy  persons  in  the 
act  of  being  conducted  to  Heaven  by  St  Peter  and  other 
saints.  The  two  next  circles  on  each  side  are,  or  have 
been,  occupied  with  a  representation  of  the  general 
resurrection  ;  and  each  of  the  lowest  five  circles  is  filled 
either  with  the  figure  of  an  archbishop,  or  of  a  bishop 
in  eucharistic  vestments. 

202 


THE   EARLY   ENGLISH 

The  extraordinary  intensity  and  vividness  of  the 
colours,  the  strength  and  boldness  of  the  outline,  the 
tallness  of  the  figures,  their  vigorous  and  spirited 
attitudes  and  classical  air  of  their  heads,  also  the 
conventional  character  of  the  foliaged  ornaments  as 
displayed  in  the  borders  and  white  patterns,  and  which 
resemble  the  ornaments  of  the  contemporary  sculpture, 
are  all  characteristics  of  the  Early  English  style  of 
glass  painting,  and  are  all  traceable  in  this  window, 
which  also  exhibits  the  general  principles  of  com- 
position common  to  any  Early  English  window  that 
contains  a  number  of  pictures.  Each  picture,  the 
design  of  which  is  always  very  simple,  is  placed  in  a 
panel  having  a  stiff  -coloured  ground,  and  well-defined 
border.  The  panels  are  also  embedded  in  a  stiff- 
coloured  ground.  Very  little  white  glass  is  used,  so 
that  the  window  consists  of  a  mass  of  rich  and 
variegated  colouring,  of  which  the  predominant  tones 
are  those  of  the  grounds.  The  design  of  this  great 
northern  rose  at  Lincoln,  owing  fo  the  smallness  of 
its  parts,  is  confused  when  seen  from  the  floor  of  the 
transept,  the  best  position  for  viewing  it  being  from 
the  gallery  of  the  triforium  or  clerestory.  There  is 
also  much  other  Early  English  glass  in  the  four  lancet 
windows  of  the  opposite  transept,  collected  from 
different  parts  of  the  cathedral.  Over  these  lancets 
is  another  magnificent  rose  of  a  period  which  our 
history  has  not  yet  readied.  According  to  the  sym- 
bolism of  the  different  parts  or"  the  church  in  ' '  The 
Metrical  Life  of  St  Hugh  "  (written  between  the  years 
1220-1295)  these  windows  typified  the  Bishop  and 
the  Dean — "  Ecclesiae  duo  sunt  oculi  '  —the  Bishop 

203 


looked  towards  the  south,  the  quarter  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  as  though  inviting  His  influence;  the  Dean 
towards  the  north,  the  region  of  Lucifer  (Isaiah  xiv. 
13)  in  order  to  watch  against  his  advances. 

The  five  lancet  windows  at  the  east  end  of  Chet- 
wode  Church,  Buckinghamshire,  have  retained  their 
original  glazing  in  a  fairly  perfect  condition.  It 
represents  figures  of  saints  and  bishops  and  a  king 
(Henry  III.  doubtless,  in  whose  reign  the  church  was 
built  c.  1240-44)  standing  within  oval  compartments 
against  blue  backgrounds.  The  borders  are  a 
delicate  grisaille,  and  the  same  tone  is  employed  in 
the  patternwork  separating,  at  considerable  distances, 
the  figures  just  mentioned.  The  whole  forms,  with 
of  course  modifications  in  the  drawing  and  pose  of  the 
figures,  an  admirable  model  for  a  modern  window  in 
a  church  of  this  period  of  architecture  where  it  is 
necessary  to  exclude  as  little  light  as  possible. 


204 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE — continued 

Some  representative  buildings — Lincoln  Cathedral — The  chapter- 
house of  Westminster  Abbey — The  presbytery  of  Ely  Cathe- 
dral— Churches  at  Skelton,  Nun  Monkton — St  Nicholas 
Chapel,  Coggeshall— Uffington,  Hythe— The  Early  English  of 
Cambridgeshire,  Northamptonshire,  and  the  Nene  Valley — The 
towers  and  spires  of  Leicestershire,  Rutlandshire,  and  Hunting- 
donshire— Of  other  counties — The  English  village  church — 
List  of  buildings  of  the  period. 

To  enter  into  an  examination,  however  brief,  of  even 
a  few  among  the  great  architectural  works  of  this 
epoch,  such  as  Salisbury  and  Wells  Cathedrals,  the 
retro-choir  of  Winchester,  the  transepts  of  York,  the 
choirs  of  Southwell  and  Worcester,  and  the  matchless 
presbytery  of  Ely,  would  occupy  more  space  than  can 
here  be  afforded.*  There  are,  however,  three  build- 
ings of  this  epoch  which,  before  proceeding  to  brief 
notices  of  some  smaller  and  less-known  ones,  must 
not  be  passed  over  without  comment — the  cathedral 
of  Lincoln,  the  chapter-house  of  Westminster,  and  the 
presbytery  of  Ely. 

No  English  cathedral  is  externally  so  imposing  as 

*  A  list  of  some  of  the  best  and  most  representative  buildings  of 
this  period  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

205 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Lincoln,  nor  do  I  recollect  any  abroad  which,  as  a 
whole,  surpasses  it,  and  nearly  the  whole  of  its  sublime 
architecture  belongs  virtually  to  this  century,  though 
it  begins,  in  actual  date,  a  few  years  earlier,  and  ends 
a  few  years  later.  It  is  the  custom  to  speak  of  Salis- 
bury as  the  great  typical  example  of  the  Early 
English  style,  and  its  unity  and  completeness  warrant 
the  claim ;  but  both  for  the  grandeur  of  the  whole  and 
the  artistic  beauty  of  every  part,  and  also  as  a  complete 
exponent  of  English  architecture  throughout  the 
whole  duration  of  its  greatest  period,  Lincoln  far 
surpasses  it.  Its  leading  features  form  a  perfect 
illustration,  and  that  on  the  grandest  scale,  of  the 
entire  history  of  our  architecture  from  the  last  years 
of  the  twelfth  to  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth 
century. 

In  size  and  importance  Lincoln  may  be  regarded  as 
the  third  great  church  of  the  Early  English  period  in 
England,  the  whole  of  the  interior,  except  the  Angel 
Choir,  or  portion  beyond  the  eastern  transept,  being  of 
this  age,  and  this  part  follows  so  immediately  after  the 
rest  as  not  to  produce  any  want  of  harmony,  but 
merely  a  degree  of  enrichment  suitable  to  the  increased 
sanctity  of  the  altar  and  the  localities  surrounding  it. 
In  grandeur  of  situation,  Lincoln  has  no  rival  among 
English  cathedrals ;  no  other  cathedral  is  richer  or 
more  varied  in  its  outlines,  and  few  can  be  exceeded 
in  the  interest  of  its  details. 

The  polygonal  chapter-houses  of  our  cathedrals  of 
the  old  foundation  are  indeed  unique.  There  is 
nothing  to  compare  with  them  on  the  Continent. 
Take  that  of  Lincoln  for  example.  Decagonal  in 

206 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

shape  this  house  at  Lincoln  with  its  high  bold  roof 
and  its  long  projecting  flying  buttresses,  was  pro- 
nounced by  Pugin  "  truly  grand."  Chronologically 
it  takes  up  ground  between  the  nave  and  the  Angel 
Choir,  so  that  it  would  be  safe  to  fix  its  date  between 
1240  and  1260.  Even  here  the  lancet  form  of  window 
prevails,  each  side  of  the  decagon — except  that  open- 
ing into  the  equally  exquisite  vestibule — being  lighted 
by  a  pair,  while  running  round  the  walls  below  the 
windows,  unbroken  by  the  vaulting  shafts  which  are 
stopped  upon  corbels  at  the  string-course,  is  a  series 
of  uncusped  pointed  arcades.  In  the  centre  rises  a  tall 
column  composed  of  twelve  slender  shafts  grouped 
around  a  nucleus  and  resembling  the  trunk  of  a  palm- 
tree,  of  which  the  head  bends  down  like  an  immense 
sunshade,  sheltering  under  its  symmetrical  branches 
the  whole  area  of  the  floor,  the  branches  being  united 
with  parts  of  other  palms  which  spring  from  the 
angles  of  the  decagon. 

The  chapter-houses  of  Salisbury  and  Westminster 
may  be  lighter  and  more  gracious  in  the  disposal  of 
their  vaults,  but  it  is  impossible  not  to  admire  the 
consummate  skill  evinced  in  their  majestic  parent  at 
Lincoln.  Contemporary  French  or  German  archi- 
tecture has  produced  nothing  from  which  a  notion  can 
be  formed  of  so  exquisitely  delightful  an  example  of 
groining.  The  thirteenth-century  English  architects 
may  not  have  possessed  the  same  engineering  skill  as 
those  of  the  Domaine  Royal  and  Champagne  in  the 
arrangement  of  their  east  ends,  but  in  the  art  of 
disposing  and  ornamenting  their  vaults,  particularly 
those  of  octagonal  chapter-houses,  they  unquestionably 

207 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

carried  off  the  palm.  They  seem  to  have  had  a 
peculiar  aptitude  for  that  work  which  enabled  them  to 
exercise  their  imagination  and  their  practical  studies, 
and  hence  they  produced  a  variety  of  effects  of  extra- 
ordinary richness.  But  among  all  their  inventions 
there  are  few  more  original  than  the  palm-tree-like 
vaults  in  those  chapter-houses  of  Lincoln,  Salisbury, 
Westminster,  Lichfield,  and  Wells,  which  form  so 
remarkable  and  continuous  a  sequence  of  buildings. 
For  loveliness  there  was  probably  no  more  conspicuous 
building  in  the  kingdom,  if  in  Europe,  than  the 
chapter-house  of  Westminster  when  it  was  in  its  glory, 
no  little  of  whicK  was  given  back  to  it  about  five-and- 
forty  years  ago,  after  centuries  of  ill-treatment  and 
neglect,  through  the  wonderful  skill  and  acute 
diagnosis  of  Sir  Gilbert  Scott. 

All  that  art  could  do,  both  in  its  construction  and 
decoration,  was  employed  to  the  fullest  possible  extent. 
Whether  we  look  to  its  sculpture,  its  proportions,  the 
cleverness  of  its  construction,  or  its  mural  and  other 
decoration,  better  examples  than  what  was  to  be  seen 
here  could  scarcely  be  pointed  out. 

In  proportion  this  chapter-house  has  no  superior; 
and  if,  as  we  possibly  may,  we  except  Lincoln,  it  was 
the  earliest  of  the  whole  series  of  polygonal  chapter- 
houses, having  been  begun  about  1250.*  This  much 
is  certain,  that  the  windows  were  nearly  finished  in 
1253.  The  chapter-house  which  most  resembles  it  is 
that  at  Salisbury,  which  was,  in  fact,  to  a  great 

*  Matthew  Paris  "  under  the  date  of  1250  "  says,  after  stating 
that  the  King  (Henry  III.)  had  rebuilt  the  church  :  "  Dominus  Rex 
aedificavit  capitulum  incomparable." 

208 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

extent  copied  from  it,  and  is  in  certain  of  its  features 
of  a  more  advanced  and  ornate  style.  It  would  seem, 
however,  that  the  Lincoln  building,  very  similar  in 
construction,  having  the  same  description  of  flying 
buttresses  to  support  its  walls,  was  commenced 
slightly  earlier.  That  is  a  decagon  of  about  the  same 
diameter  as  the  Westminster  octagonal  building.  Its 
form  is  not  so  good  as  the  other  for  several  reasons. 
The  octagon  gives  much  more  idea  of  size,  and  being 
less  cut  up  affords  opportunity  for  windows  of  much 
larger  dimensions.  In  the  Lincoln  chapter-house  the 
windows  are  lancets  arranged  in  pairs,  at  Westminster 
we  have  one  large  four-light  window  in  seven  of  the 
sides,  with  geometrical  tracery  of  a  very  high  order; 
indeed  they  are  as  fine  specimens  of  windows  as  are 
to  be  found  in  any  country.  The  only  exception  to 
this  is  over  the  portal,  where  the  shortened  window  is 
of  five  lights.  This  was  doubtless  to  avoid  an 
unpleasant  dwarfed  appearance,  that  a  four-light 
window  cut  short  would  have  had. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  Lincoln  carvers  have, 
as  usual,  displayed  all  their  powers  in  the  enrichment 
of  the  capitals  of  the  great  central  column  of  shafts 
and  in  the  elongated  corbels  upon  which  the  angle 
shafts  are  supported ;  whereas  the  majority  of  the 
Westminster  shafts  have  capitals  of  comparative  plain- 
ness. No  one  who  takes  the  trouble  to  imagine  what 
this  ' '  capitulum  incomparable  ' '  was  j^hen  it  was 
first  built  can  think  that  Matthew  Paris's  description 
was  at  all  exaggerated.  It  was  indeed  an  incompar- 
able chapter-house.  Though  less  rich  in  carving  than 
others,  its  interior  must  have  been  more  effective,  on 

209  0 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

account  of  its   greater  nobleness  of  proportion    and 
splendour  of  coloured  decoration. 

Fifty  years  ago  it  was  hard  for  the  uninitiated  to 
understand  from  its  then  condition  the  glowing 
accounts  which  Sir  Gilbert  Scott  and  others  had  given 
of  this  chapter-house.  Nothing  could  well  be  more 
shameful ;  every  window  was  blocked  up,  the  whole 
of  the  exterior  so  entirely  defaced  as  scarcely  to  leave 
a  vestige  of  its  former  glory.  Fortunately,  there  was 
just  enough  to  show  that  the  exterior  mouldings  and 
ornaments  were  similar  to  the  interior,  and  so  the  task 
of  restoring — though  apparently  hopeless — was  really 
an  easy  matter.  The  interior  had  suffered  less  than 
the  outside,  miserable  as  was  its  condition  at  that 
period ;  but  the  very  neglect  with  which  it  had  been 
treated  was  here  an  advantage.  The  Government,  in 
whose  hands  the  building  had  been  almost  from  its 
foundation,  had  simply  let  it  go  gradually  to  decay. 
What  had  been  strong  enough  to  last  had  been  let 
alone ;  and  so  in  certain  parts  we  had  in  this  building 
that  which  existed  nowhere  else.  These  destroyers 
did  not  even  attempt  to  keep  the  place  in  repair ;  and 
so,  instead  of  repaving  the  floor,  as  they  probably 
would  have  done  if  they  had  acted  in  the  spirit  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  they  simply  covered  it  up  with 
woodwork,  and  left  us  one  of  the  finest,  if  not  the 
very  finest,  specimen  of  tile-work  that  is  to  be  seen  in 
this  or  any  other  country.  Whether  we  look  to  the 
design,  drawing,  or  execution  of  this  matchless  work, 
it  is  in  every  way  admirable.  In  saying  this  I  do  not 
make  any  comparison  between  this  pavement  and  those 
formed  of  tesserae,  or  inlaid  with  precious  marble, 

210 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

porphyry,  and  the  like.  As  a  pictured  floor  executed 
in  ceramic  work,  I  can  call  to  mind  nothing  to  equal 
this,  unless,  as  a  matter  of  art,  the  excellent  Chertsey 
pavement,  now  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum 
at  South  Kensington,  be  excepted.  Then  again,  the 
neglect  of  the  place  was  so  absolute,  that  it  had  happily 
never  been  whitewashed ;  and  so  have  been  preserved 
some  most  extraordinary  paintings,  many  of  them 
still  in  excellent  preservation,  and  of  the  highest 
interest  in  every  way.  When  the  filling  up  of  the 
windows  was  taken  out,  many  other  original  features 
came  to  light.  The  window  over  the  door,  for 
instance,  was  found  by  Sir  Gilbert  Scott  to  be  blocked 
up  with  some  of  the  original  ribs  of  the  roof  which  was 
destroyed.  Much  more  information  of  a  similar 
character  was  forthcoming  as  the  work  of  restoration 
proceeded,  for  the  Government  evidently  did  not  take 
the  trouble  to  clear  away  the  debris,  but  used  it  up  as 
much  as  possible  in  botching  up  the  building. 

Shamefully  as  the  State  had  used  this  incomparable 
piece  of  thirteenth-century  Gothic  skill,  it  is  to  State 
history  that — after  its  position  in  the  history  of 
mediaeval  art — it  owes  its  principal  history.  Almost 
from  its  erection  the  Westminster  chapter-house  was 
used  for  State  purposes.  Within  twenty  years  of  its 
birth  it  seems  to  have  been  used,  at  least  occasionally, 
as  the  place  of  meeting  for  the  House  of  Commons. 
In  1377  it  appears  to  have  been  given  up  to  the  Crown 
to  be  used  as  a  Commons'  house,  on  condition,  it  is 
said,  of  keeping  the  building  in  repair.  This  latter 
point  does  not,  however,  appear  to  be  known  from  any 
document.  The  authority  for  this  assertion  is  Sir 

211 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Christopher  Wren.  At  any  rate,  it  is  clear  that  the 
Crown  from  time  to  time  did  profess  to  undertake  the 
repairs.  The  Commons  met  here  till  1547,  when 
St  Stephen's  Chapel  was  given  up  to  them.  After 
this  it  became  a  Record  Office,  and  in  1703  Wren 
refused  to  erect  a  gallery  in  it.  In  1705  he  repaired 
it,  but  later  it  was  delivered  over  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  barbarians,  who  reduced  it  to  the  wretched  state  it 
was  in  fifty  years  ago,  some  idea  of  which  may  be 
formed  from  prints  exhibited,  I  believe,  in  the  restored 
building,  which  is  now  used  as  a  museum  of 
antiquities. 

Instead  of  repairing  the  vaulting,  it  was  taken  down 
bodily,  and  a  wooden  ceiling  substituted  ;  and  thus 
an  extra  chamber  or  loft  was  gained  for  the  record 
people.  The  side  walls  had  given  way  in  some 
degree.  Wren  had  noticed  this,  and  attributed  the 
fact  to  the  curious  flying  buttresses — a  construction 
he  held  in  great  contempt,  as  being  merely  fanciful, 
without  beauty,  and  wanting  in  strength.  Facts, 
however,  seem  against  him,  for  the  resistance  of  the 
buttresses  is  twice  as  great  as  would  ever  be  required 
of  them,  and  the  wall  that  abuts  on  the  building  was 
certainly  not  in  a  better  state  than  those  which  had 
the  other  support.  The  fault  was  probably  more  in 
the  foundations. 

The  mediaeval  artists,  however,  do  not  seem  to  have 
cared  for  this  constructional  feature,  for  in  the  Salis- 
bury and  subsequent  chapter-houses,  the  buttresses 
were  attached  to  the  walls.  Before  the  restoration 
took  place  (c.  1867)  nothing  had  been  done  to  this 
house  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years.  All  the  records 

212 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

having  been  removed  to  the  building  erected  for  their 
reception  in  Fetter  Lane,  the  chapter-house  was  of  no 
further  use  to  the  Government.  On  Gladstone's 
accession  to  power  in  1868  he  set  seriously  to  work  to 
remove  what  had  come  to  be  nothing  less  than  a 
national  reproach.  The  work  of  restoration  was 
entrusted  to  Sir  Gilbert  Scott,  in  whose  able  hands  the 
chapter-house  of  Westminster  began  to  assume  some- 
thing of  its  pristine  splendour  and  form.  Not  a  point 
was  missed  which  would  enable  Sir  Gilbert  to  ascertain 
the  actual  design  of  any  part,  nor  was  any  old  feature 
removed  of  which  a  trace  of  the  old  form  remained ; 
the  only  parts  conjecturally  restored  being  the 
external  parapet,  the  pinnacles,  the  gables  of  the 
buttresses  and  the  pyramidal  roof. 

Perhaps  the  most  graceful  feature  of  the  West- 
minster chapter-house  is  the  central  pillar.  About 
thirty-five  feet  high,  it  is  entirely  of  Purbeck  marble, 
and  consists  of  a  central  shaft  surrounded  by  eight 
subordinate  shafts,  attached  to  it  by  three  moulded 
bands.  The  capital,  though  of  marble,  is  most  richly 
carved,  and  on  the  top  of  it  is  a  systematically  con- 
structed set  of  eight  hooks  of  iron  for  so  many 
cross-ties.  The  same  was  the  case  at  Salisbury,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  hooks  on  the  columns 
in  that  cathedral  are  many  of  them  original,  and  were 
intended  for  security  during  the  progress  of  the 
work . 

Some  curious  facts  came  out  during  Scott's 
numerous  visits  of  inspection  to  the  chapter-house 
years  before  its  restoration  was  ever  contemplated. 
He  had  often  wondered  that,  while  the  windows 

213 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

generally  were  walled  up  with  brick,  that  over  the 
entrance  should  have  been  filled  with  stone ;  but  on 
taking  out  one  of  the  ashlar  stones  to  ascertain  the 
section  of  the  jamb,  what  was  his  surprise  at  finding 
them  to  consist  entirely  of  the  lengths  of  the  moulded 
ribs  of  the  lost  vaulting,  carefully  packed  away  like 
wine-bottles  in  a  bin,  with  their  moulded  sides 
inwards. 

Our  third  example — Bishop  Hugh  de  Northwold's 
extension  of  the  eastern  arm  of  Ely  Cathedral — is  not 
only  one  of  the  greatest  undertakings  of  this  period, 
but  one  of  the  noblest  and  most  richly  ornamented 
pieces  of  architecture  produced  before  the  thirteenth 
century  had  reached  its  meridian  (1234-52).  The 
Norman  apse,  or  its  substitute  at  the  east  end,  was 
taken  down,  and  six  bays  with  a  grand  fa£ade,  lighted 
by  two  tiers  of  lancet  windows,  added.  The  work 
cost  what  in  our  own  money  would  be  equal  to  one 
hundred  thousand  pounds.  Its  design  was  in  some 
degree  influenced  by  that  of  the  four  Norman  bays  of 
the  presbvterv  to  which  it  formed  a  continuation. 
Hence  its  triforium  story  is  unusually  lofty,  and  had 
an  external  wall  with  beautiful  lancet  windows  in 
pairs  of  its  own.  A  like  fatality  has  happened 
externally  to  both  the  Norman  and  the  Early 
English  triforia  at  Ely,  their  walls  having  been  so 
transformed  that  their  original  design  would  be 
unintelligible  had  not  a  single  portion  of  each  been 
happily  left  untouched — viz.  the  two  bays  of  the 
Norman  wall  east  of  the  north  transept,  and  two  bays 
of  the  Early  English  wall  on  the  south  side  of  the 
presbytery.  From  these  a  restoration  on  paper  of 

214 


Till-:    PRKSUYTKRY.     KI.Y    (.  A  TllKDK.U. 


To  face  p.  214. 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

nearly  the  whole  cathedral,  so  far  as  relates  to  its  bays, 
whether  Norman  or  Early  English,  could  be  laid 
down .  These  alterations  in  the  lighting  of  the  trif oria 
at  Ely,  and  which  affected  it  almost  throughout  the 
cathedral,  were  carried  out  at  intervals  during  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  Bishop  North- 
wold's  six  bays  are  magnificent  in  all  their  details, 
profuse  in  the  use  of  Purbeck,  marble,  and  noble  in 
every  portion  of  its  design. 

One  of  the  most  charming  creations  of  the  lancet  or 
early  phase  of  thirteenth-century  English  architecture 
is  the  little  village  church  of  Skelton,  about  four  miles 
from  York.  Some  of  my  readers  will  probably  have 
heard  of  it,  but  they  may  not  (unless  they  have  seen 
it)  have  realised  its  exceeding  littleness.  Consisting 
as  it  does  of  chancel  and  nave  both  with  aisles,  and 
covered  with  one  length  and  breadth  of  high  pitched 
roof,  it  only  measures  internally  forty-four  feet  two 
inches  by  thirty-two  feet  eight  inches.  The  details 
are  very  rich  and  very  beautiful,  and  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  it  has  formed  the  model  for  churches  at 
the  present  day.  Sir  Gilbert  Scott  adopted  it  when 
designing  the  very  elegant  and  sumptuously  decorated 
little  church  at  Cadeby,  near  Sprotborough — a  station 
on  the  Midland  Railway  between  Sheffield  and 
Doncaster,  but  it  was  no  doubt  Mr  Ewan  Christian's 
careful  monograph  *  of  it,  published  in  1846,  that 
brought  Skelton  Church  most  prominently  before  the 

*  The  plates  in  this  work  were  lithographed  by  Mr  J.  R.  Jobbins 
and  Mr  J.  K.  Colling-  (a  well-remembered  authority  on  English 
mediaeval  foliaged  ornament)  from  the  author's  drawings.  The 
names  of  several  architects  in  practice  at  that  time  are  found  in 
the  list  of  subscribers. 

215 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

architectural  public.  This  little  church  is  tradition- 
ally said  to  have  been  built  with  the  stones  that 
remained  after  the  completion  of  the  south  transept  of 
York  Minster  (c.  1250),  and  although,  as  may  be 
gathered  from  the  above  given  dimensions,  it  is  very 
small,  but  few  ecclesiastical  buildings  of  its  size  are 
perhaps  to  be  found  more  perfect  in  harmony  of  parts, 
unity  of  design,  and  purity  of  style.  It  is  indeed  a 
gem,  well  worth  the  study  alike  of  the  architect  and 
the  amateur.  It  is  built  of  a  light-coloured  limestone, 
and  was  carefully  restored  the  year  before  the  Battle 
of  Waterloo  in  a  manner  wonderful  for  that  period, 
by  a  young  architect,  Mr  Graham,  and  at  the  cost  of 
a  lady,  to  whose  timely  munificence  we  are  indebted 
for  the  preservation  of  this  interesting  little  relic  of 
first  pointed  art.  The  nave  has  two  bays,  the 
chancel  one,  and  from  the  wall  above  the  arch  dividing 
the  two  portions  rises  that  graceful  bell-cote  illustrated 
on  page  112. 

The  wide  expanse  of  roof  was  formerly  covered  with 
tiles,  but  at  the  restoration  of  1814,  Westmorland 
slates,  harmonising  very  well  with  the  environing 
scenery,  were  substituted.  All  the  windows  are 
lancets,  there  being  a  graceful  triplet  at  the  east  end 
surmounted  by  an  oval,  and  single  ones  at  the  west 
end,  the  ends  of  the  aisles  and  at  the  sides.  The  two 
arches  dividing  the  nave  from  its  aisles  spring  from  a 
column  crowned  with  a  capital  whose  bell  is  enriched 
with  a  delicate  bead  moulding,  the  responds  or  half 
columns  at  the  east  and  west  ends  being  composed 
of  three  slender  shafts,  the  eastern  responds  uniting 
with  the  attached  column  of  the  chancel  arch  to 

216 


THE   EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

compose  a  group  of  singular  richness  and  beauty. 
The  only  modern  interpolation  is  the  roof,  somewhat 
painfully  configured  by  the  architect  above  named 
after  those  in  the  transept  of  York  Minster.  But  the 
gem  a  priori  of  this  little  church  is  the  south  doorway. 
Within  its  limits  the  designer  evidently  aimed  at 
magnificence,  and  he  as  evidently  succeeded.  In  the 
jambs  he  obtained  what  may  be  called  an  avenue  of 
pillars,  nine  in  number,  on  either  side,  bold  and 
uncramped,  which  throw  out  their  ramifications  of 
mouldings  above,  in  more  than  four  orders,  with 
admirable  effect.  The  chief  ingenuity  of  the  scheme 
consists  in  a  contrivance  to  show  large  and  handsome 
capitals  and  bases,  notwithstanding  the  contiguity  of 
their  shafts.  This  is  effected  by  corbelling  back  some 
of  the  bases,  whereby  the  nine  merge  into  six,  whilst 
the  nine  capitals  plunge  into  and  lose  themselves  in 
their  well-contrived  foliage,  and  their  abaci  or  tops, 
without  the  appearance  of  mutilation,  come  out  four 
in  number. 

Within  a  short  distance  of  Skelton  is  the  curious 
and  even  more  interesting  church  of  Nun  Monkton. 
Built  in  the  twelfth  century  as  a  church  for  a  priory 
of  Benedictine  nuns,  it  was  endowed  by  William  de 
Arcubus  and  Ivetta  his  wife,  in  the  reign  of  Stephen, 
with  their  whole  estate  of  Monkton,  but  the  present 
church  is  of  a  date  considerably  later,  being  in  the 
very  earliest  phase  of  first  pointed  (c.  1190-1215). 
The  general  plan  is  a  simple  parallelogram,  about 
thirty-five  feet  wide  externally ;  the  original  length  is 
uncertain,  as  only  five  bays  and  a  part  of  the  sixth  of 
the  eastern  part  of  the  original  work  have  survived. 

217 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Externally,  the  west  front  is  the  most  beautiful 
feature,  and  is  a  perfect  gem  of  the  transitional  period 
of  English  Gothic.  It  contains  in  the  lower  stage  an 
entrance  door  very  deeply  recessed,  flanked  by  two 
niches  on  either  side  of  it,  the  arches  both  of  doorway 
and  niches  being  semicircular,  and  enriched  by  mould- 
ings and  shafts  which  exhibit  the  volute  and  other 
characteristic  ornaments  of  the  time  in  great  per- 
fection. Above,  in  a  second  stage,  are  three  exquisite 
early  lancet  windows,  surmounted  by  a  belfry  tower, 
the  corbel  course  of  which  just  clears  the  apex  of  the 
roof  line.  This  tower  is  supported  on  the  west  wall 
and  within  the  church  on  two  plain  chamfered  piers, 
separated  from  the  wall  and  from  each  other  by 
pointed  arches,  which,  viewed  from  within,  somewhat 
interfere  with  the  general  harmony  of  the  composition, 
and  suggest  the  idea  that  this  tower,  though  an 
original  part  of  the  structure,  was  not  part  of  the 
original  design. 

The  north  and  south  walls  are  more  plainly  treated 
externally,  being  broken  at  intervals,  regular  on  the 
north  side  but  irregular  on  the  south,  by  flat  pilaster 
buttresses,  and  pierced  within  the  spaces  thus  formed 
by  plain  lancet  window  openings  of  good  proportion. 
The  buttresses  die  into  the  wall  immediately  below  a 
moulded  corbel  table,  on  which  are  introduced  a  series 
of  plain  masks.  At  the  fifth  buttress  of  the  north  and 
south  walls  the  corbel  table  is  slightly  raised,  and 
the  masks  supporting  it  are  changed  in  character, 
evidently  indicating  the  commencement  of  the  original 
chancel.  The  south  wall  contains  a  recessed  semi- 
circular arched  doorway  of  similar  character  to  the 

"  218 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— con  tinned 

west  doorway.  This  had  been  broken  through,  but 
sufficient  remained  to  make  a  perfect  restoration  of  it. 
The  south-west  doorway,  deeply  recessed  with  cham- 
fered jambs  of  three  orders,  has  also  been  opened  out. 
Within  is  found  the  most  remarkable  feature  of  the 
church,  and  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  anything  more 
exquisitely  beautiful  than  the  general  treatment  of  the 
four  walls  there  exhibited.  A  passage  or  gallery  is 
carried  in  the  walls,  which  are  more  than  four  feet  in 
thickness,  round  the  entire  building  at  a  height  of 
some  ten  feet  from  the  floor.  To  that  height  the  walls 
are  perfectly  plain,  but  from  a  moulded  string-course, 
which  is  there  introduced,  rises  one  of  the  most 
charming  compositions  in  the  whole  range  of  Gothic 
architecture.  This  is  produced  by  treating  the 
passage  or  gallery,  which  is  a  little  over  seven  feet 
high,  as  a  triforium,  divided  by  vaulting-shafts  into 
alternate  wide  and  narrow  bays.  In  the  wide  bays 
are  the  window  openings  with  banded  cylindrical 
shafts  in  the  jambs ;  in  the  narrow  bays  are  small 
coupled  openings  with  very  acutely  pointed  arches  of 
the  height  of  the  passage,  immediately  above  which  in 
the  wall  are  small  tref oiled  panels;  and  above,  again, 
wider,  deep-cusped,  trefoil-headed  niches,  intended,  no 
doubt,  to  receive  figures.  There  is  thus  produced  a 
parallel  (if  it  may  be  so  called,  where  there  are  no 
supporting  arches)  of  the  triple  arrangement  of  arch, 
triforium,  and  clerestory  so  familiar  to  us  in  many  of 
our  cathedral,  abbey,  and  collegiate  churches  ;  and  the 
whole  is  so  carefully  and  variously  moulded  and 
enriched  as  to  form  a  complete  repertory  of  ornamenta- 
tion for  the  architectural  student. 

219 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

The  presence  of  vaulting  shafts  leads  to  the 
supposition  that  a  vaulted  timber  roof  was  con- 
templated, but  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the 
builders  succeeded  in  erecting  this,  or  indeed  any 
roof  of  the  high  pitch  at  first  intended  and  adopted 
when  the  church  was  conservatively  restored  and  the 
destroyed  chancel  rebuilt  in  1873,  as  indicated  by  the 
water  tabling  in  the  walls  of  the  tower. 

The  triforium,  at  a  point  corresponding  with  the 
fifth  internal  buttress,  assumes  a  greatly  enriched 
character ;  the  narrow  bays  show  considerable  variety 
of  treatment,  and  there  is  generally  great  diversity  of 
detail,  seeming  to  indicate  a  transition  of  style.  The 
type  of  roof  adopted  when  the  church  was  restored  in 
1873'  was  the  simple  longitudinal  \vooden  vault  of 
high  pitch,  divided  into  bays  by  ribs  to  which  shallow 
cusps  give  a  cinquefoil  elevation.  The  bays  between 
the  ribs  to  the  new  chancel,  which  is  square-ended  and 
lighted  by  three  very  richly  and  carefully  moulded 
lancet  windows,  filled  with  stained  glass  by  Morris 
&  Marshall,  being  panelled  as  a  vehicle  for  decoration. 

A  tie-beam,  from  which  rises  a  king-post,  connects 
the  lowest  cusp  on  either  side  of  each  rib,  and  prevents 
the  thrust  which  such  a  high-pitched  roof  would  other- 
wise exercise  on  the  walls.  The  whole  church  is 
quite  a  model  for  its  size,  and  no  better  one  could  be 
adopted  for  the  chapel  of  a  collegiate  or  conventual 
establishment  of  the  present  day. 

In  striking  contrast  to  these  richly  ornamented  little 
churches  at  Skelton  and  Nun  Monkton,  stands  the 
almost  commensurate  Chapel  of  St  Nicholas  near 
Coggeshall  in  Essex.  Long  used  as  a  barn,  it  was 

220 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

given  about  forty  years  ago  by  the  owner,  the  Rev. 
W.  Bullock,  together  with  an  acre  of  land  round  it,  to 
the  church  and  vicar  of  Coggeshall,  restored  and  fitted 
for  Divine  service.  It  is  built  of  brick  in  the  very 
simplest  and  severest  Early  English  style,  and  con- 
sists of  an  aisleless  nave  and  chancel  of  equal  length, 
the  latter  being  a  little  loftier,  and  having  its  square 
east  end  lighted  by  three  lancets.  The  other  lancets, 
are  two  on  either  side  of  the  nave  and  two  on  either  side 
of  the  chancel,  with  on  the  south  side  of  the  former 
a  pointed  doorway.  In  the  chancel  eleven  pairs  of 
the  original  roof  rafters  remain.  The  three  lancets 
at  the  east  end  are  grouped  under  an  arch  lined  out 
in  the  brickwork,  the  eyes  or  spaces  formed  by  the 
arch  with  the  side  lancets  being  unpierced.  The 
whole  is  pleasing  from  its  simplicity  and,  in  an 
enlarged  form,  has  served  as  a  model  for  churches  at 
the  present  day,  in  which  economy  combined  with 
dignity  and  ecclesiastical  feeling  are  desiderata. 

The  Church  of  Uffington  in  Berkshire  is  probably 
known  to  many  of  my  readers  as  one  of  the  most 
interesting  and  perfect  examples  of  an  early 
thirteenth-century  church  on  a  modest  scale  of  which 
we  can  boast,  and  has  features  which  make  it  beyond 
almost  any  other  interesting  to  the  zealous  ecclesio- 
logist.*  It  has  an  octagonal  central  tower  and  a 
square-ended  chancel  with  its  eastern  bay  alone 
groined,  the  phase  of  the  style  in  which  the  whole  is 
carried  out  being  the  lancet. 

*  Uffington  Church,  for  which  Street  had  a  particular  fondness, 
was  restored  by  him,  as  well  as  the  equally  fine  but  later  Church 
of  Wantage  early  in  the  'fifties  of  the  last  century. 

221 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Hythe  Church,  in  Kent,  is  even  finer;  here  the 
clustered  shafts,  the  elevation  of  the  chancel  above  the 
nave  owing  to  the  crypt,  and  the  contrast  between 
the  simplicity  of  the  nave  and  the  magnificence  of  the 
chancel,  and  the  beauty  of  all  the  detail,  make  it 
one  of  our  most  perfect  examples  of  a  parish  church 
on  a  small  scale.  Here  the  whole  eastern  part  is 
groined. 

Stone  Church  near  Dartford  so  easily  within  the 
reach  of  Londoners,  is  specially  interesting  because 
there  can  hardly  be  a  doubt  that  it  was  built  by  the 
same  architect  as  Westminster  Abbey ;  but  it  has  a 
square  east  end,  and  it  had  the  good  fortune,  half  a 
century  ago,  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  George  Edmund 
Street,  who  restored  the  vaulted  roof  of  the  chancel, 
which  had  been  renewed  at  a  much  later  period,  to  its 
original  form  of  two  bays  of  plain  quadripartite  vault- 
ing. Here,  as  at  Hythe,  the  whole  of  the  details  are 
most  interesting  and  delicate,  the  columns  dividing 
the  nave  from  its  aisles  being  especially  remarkable 
as  specimens  of  the  purest  Early  English,  quite  free 
from  any  reminiscences  of  the  Romanesque. 

It  is  generally  acknowledged  that  there  is  no  county 
within  the  limits  of  the  three  kingdoms  which  is  so 
entirely  destitute  of  the  picturesque  as  Cambridge- 
shire ;  no  county  so  little  likely  to  attract  the  attention 
of  the  admirer  of  rural  scenery,  or  to  arrest  the  foot- 
steps of  the  wandering  artist  in  search  of  subjects  for 
his  sketch-book  ;  and  yet  there  is  something  in  this 
absence  of  the  picturesque  and  beautiful  in  the  general 
aspect  of  Cambridgeshire,  and  especially  in  the  Fen 
districts,  which  is  by  no  means  devoid  of  interest,  and 

222 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

excites  an  attention  far  above  the  "  beauties  so  tame 
and  domestic  "  as  our  more  highly  cultivated  pastoral 
counties.  Its  widely  extended  flats  of  black  peaty 
soil,  separated  by  dark  sullen  dykes,  and  intersected 
by  mighty  drains,  the  long  rows  of  willows  and 
poplars,  and  the  uncultivated  acres  of  swamps  have 
about  them  an  air  of  desolate  grandeur  and  gloomy 
vastness  very  striking  in  its  general  effect,  and  by  no 
means  devoid  of  a  poetry  of  its  own. 

Now  the  churches  in  this  district  are  among  some  of 
the  finest  in  England,  and  are  most  of  them  built  on 
elevated  sites  to  preserve  them  from  the  inundations 
to  which  the  Fens  up  to  a  comparatively  recent  period 
were  constantly  liable ;  and  this,  added  to  the  level 
nature  of  the  country,  and  the  absence  for  the  most 
part  of  intervening  foliage,  causes  them  to  loom  out 
in  the  distance,  so  that  they  look  like  miniature 
cathedrals  and  form  landmarks  for  miles  around. 

This  peculiar  topographical  feature  may  have 
induced  rather  exaggerated  notions  of  their  size  and 
grandeur ;  still  excepting  perhaps  the  Fen  districts  of 
Lincolnshire  and  Northamptonshire,  we  may  fairly 
claim  for  that  portion  of  the  county  especially  which 
lies  to  the  north  of  Cambridge,  a  position  unsurpassed 
in  the  ecclesiological  topography  of  England. 

The  first  thing  that  strikes  one  in  a  general  survey 
of  the  architecture  of  Cambridgeshire  is  the  remark- 
able fact  that  here,  as  in  the  other  marshy  districts  of 
England,  the  churches  are  in  general  so  spacious  in 
proportion,  so  rich  in  ornamentation,  and  so  excellent 
in  workmanship;  and  these,  it  must  be  remembered, 
were  erected  at  a  time  when  the  country  was  much 

223 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

poorer  than  it  is  now.  Two  sources  of  expense  deserve 
especial  mention. 

As  there  are  no  stone  quarries  in  Cambridgeshire, 
this  important  material  had  all  to  be  brought  from  a 
distance,  and  though  stone  from  Barnack  near  North- 
ampton, and  from  Ketton  near  Stamford  is  used  very 
generally,  yet  Caen  stone,  which  of  course  had  to  be 
brought  all  the  way  from  Normandy,  is  very  fre- 
quently met  with  ;  then  too,  the  mouldings  and  internal 
carvings  are  generally  very  rich  and  elaborate,  and 
would  seem  to  have  been  very  costly. 

We  may  in  some  measure  account  for  these  facts ; 
for  no  doubt  the  Fens  were  at  that  period  intersected 
by  navigable  streams  in  all  directions,  many  of  which 
may  still  be  traced  close  up  to  the  present  churches, 
so  that  the  cheapness  and  convenience  of  water- 
carriage  was  readily  available  right  up  to  the  building ; 
and  about  sixty  years  ago  a  vessel  was  found  in  the 
Isle  of  Ely  many  feet  below  the  surface,  and  laden 
with  building  stone  which  had  evidently  sunk  in  a 
navigable  watercourse  while  conveying  materials  to 
some  church  then  erecting. 

And  with  regard  to  the  richness  of  the  ornamental 
work  of  the  interior,  the  material  employed  is  for  the 
most  part  the  chinch  or  Burwell  stone  of  the  district, 
easily  procured,  very  easily  and  effectively  carved, 
and  durable  in  internal  work,  but  very  perishable 
externally.  But  allowing  for  these  two  circum- 
stances, as  lessening  the  cost  of  the  carriage  of  stone 
and  facilitating  the  means  for  internal  decorations, 
very  large  sums  must  still  have  been  expended  from 
the  twelfth  to  the  fifteenth  centuries  for  church 

224 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

building  in  Cambridgeshire.  The  question  still 
arises,  where  did  the  money  come  from  ?  For  taking 
into  account  every  advantage,  the  expense  of  building 
such  churches  as  Bottisham,  and  Soham,  and  Isleham, 
and  Burwell,  Sutton,  Haddenham,  and  many  others, 
must  have  been  enormous,  and  far  above  the  means 
of  the  monastic  institutions  in  the  country.  The 
problem  is  a  hard  one,  and  has  never  been  satisfac- 
torily solved. 

Church  building  in  the  country  districts  of  Cam- 
bridgeshire, judging  from  the  existing  remains,  does 
not  seem  to  have  made   much  progress  during  the 
hundred  years  which  followed  the  Norman  Conquest. 
With  the  exception  of  the  two  great  abbeys  of  Ely 
and  Thorney,  St  Sepulchre's,  and  Stourbridge  Chapel 
in  Cambridge,  there  are  scarcely  any  remains  of  Anglo- 
Norman  architecture  worthy  of  note.     This,  in  some 
slight  degree,  may  be  owing  to  the  unsettled  state  of 
the  district  during  the  time  the  Camp  of  Refuge  in  the 
Isle  of  Ely  was  the  gathering-place  of  the  Saxons  in 
their  last  struggle  against  the  Norman  invader;  or 
we  may  account  for  it  from  the  great  impetus  given  to 
church  building  by  the  powerful  bishops  and  priors 
of  Ely  during  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries ; 
and  as  work  of  the  previous  period  was  always  ruth- 
lessly destroyed  to  make  way  for  the  current  style,, 
this  may  have  involved  the  destruction  of  much  Nor- 
man architecture.     However  this  may  be,  out  of  the 
hundred    and    ninety  churches    in    the    county    only 
twenty-three  have  portions,  some  of  them  very  frag- 
mentary,   of   the   style    prevailing   during   the    first 
seventy-five  years   of   the   twelfth   century.     In  the 

22S  P 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

twenty-five  years  that  followed,  during  which  the 
struggle  was  going  on  between  the  Romanesque  and 
the  first  pointed  style,  there  are  almost  as  many 
remains  as  there  are  of  the  previous  century.  The 
nave  and  central  tower  arches  of  the  noble  Church  of 
Soham  near  Ely  are  remarkably  fine  specimens  of  this 
period,  but  the  central  tower  has  since  been  demol- 
ished, and  one  of  Perpendicular  date  erected  at  the 
west  end,  as  was  often  the  case  in  other  parts  of 
England.  Bourn,  another  fine  church  is  also  of  this 
date ;  the  tower  was  always  the  last  portion  built,  and 
here  it  is  pure  Early  English,  and  must  have  imme- 
diately followed  the  completion  of  the  nave ;  the  style 
as  usual  being  changed  to  that  which  had  come  into 
vogue  during  the  progress  of  the  building. 

To  the  new  and  glorious  era  in  church  building 
forming  the  subject  of  this  chapter,  Cambridgeshire 
bears  abundant  witness.  Two  munificent  bishops, 
Eustachius  and  Hugh  de  Northwold  now  presided  over 
the  mother  church  of  the  diocese.  To  the  former  we 
are  indebted  for  the  splendid  galilee  porch,  and  to  the 
latter  for  the  unsurpassable  presbytery  (the  six  eastern 
bays  of  the  choir)  of  the  Cathedral  of  Ely ;  and  no- 
where is  the  marvellous  grace  and  versatility  of  this 
exquisite  style  so  fully  developed.  This,  of  course, 
was  not  without  its  effect  throughout  the  country,  and 
accordingly  we  find  portions  of  this  period  in  between 
sixty  and  seventy  churches  out  of  the  hundred  and 
ninety,  for  the  most  part  of  a  very  high  character,  and 
exhibiting  excellent  workmanship.  In  proof  of  this 
I  may  point  to  the  chapel  of  Jesus  College, 
Cambridge,  to  the  exquisite  work  in  the  chancel  of 

226 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

Cherry  Hinton,  the  chancel  and  transepts  of  Histon, 
the   greater  part  of  the   fine  churches   at   Elm   and 
Leverington,  the  tower  at  Bourn,   large  portions  of 
Foxton,   Barrington,    Cheveley,    Fordham,    Hadden- 
ham,  Downham,  March,  Long  Stanton,  Haslingfield, 
Guilden  Morden,  and  very  many  others  too  numerous 
to  name,  affording  good  examples  of  this  style  in  all 
its   varieties   from  the  period  when   it   had  scarcely 
emancipated  itself  from  the  trammels  of  the  Roman- 
esque, until  it  becomes  lost  in  the  Early  Decorated  or 
geometrical  middle  pointed  style  which  succeeded  it. 
The  neighbouring  county  of  Northamptonshire  may 
be  singled  out  as  an  especially  valuable  one  to  the 
young  architectural  student,  since  the  churches  with 
which  it  is  so  richly  endowed  embrace  every  period  of 
English    architecture,    and    the    examples    of    these 
periods  are  almost,  without  exception,  the  best  of  their 
kind;  indeed,  all  conversant  with  the  ecclesiology  of 
Northamptonshire  agree  that  it  ranks  quite  among  the 
first    of    our   counties    as    regards    the    architectural 
beauty,  variety,  and  general  interest  of  its  churches. 
The  abundance  of  good  building  stone  will  in  a  great 
degree  account  for  this ;  and  in  the  northern  district 
where    the    stone    is    the    best,    the    churches    are 
decidedly  the   finest,   though   the   southern   division 
affords   also  many   elegant   features   and   interesting 
details. 

Near  the  south-west  extremity  of  the  county  there 
is  a  group  of  churches  in  and  near  the  valley  of  the 
Cherwell — that  "  water  lilied  "  riveret,  as  Dray  ton 
calls  it,  which  falls  into  the  Isis  at  Oxford,  and  is  so 
pleasantly  remembered  bv  Oxford  men — where  the 

227 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

greenish  Horn  ton  stone  is  employed  from  Oxfordshire 
quarries,  and  the  masonwork  is  consequently  allied 
to  that  of  which  the  Oxfordshire  churches  of  Bloxham 
and  Adderbury  are  the  most  noble  examples.*  In  the 
Nene  Valley  churches  a  lavish  use  was  made  of  the 
local  ironstone  in  alternation  with  the  light-coloured 
oolite  of  the  neighbourhood.  Much  of  the  ironstone 
has  perished,  and  in  modern  restorations  walls  and 
arches  have  often  been  repaired  in  light-coloured  stone 
of  one  kind ;  but  in  the  interiors  of  Higham  Ferrers, 
Irthlingborough,  and  Earls  Barton,  in  the  basement 
story  of  the  tower  of  St  Peter's,  Northampton,  and  in 
the  spires  of  Irchester  and  Rushden,  we  are  able  to 
appreciate  the  effects  of  colour  introduced  by  the 
means  of  ironstone,  and  to  see  how  the  contrast 
supplies  much  of  that  light  and  shade  which  in  other 
districts  is  produced  by  the  elaborate  contrast  of  round 
mouldings,  with  recesses  of  deep  shadow. 

Although  Barnack  provided  Lincolnshire,  Cam- 
bridgeshire, Norfolk,  and  even  Suffolk  with  a  large 
amount  of  stone,  yet  the  influence  of  the  neighbouring 
districts  is  clearly  felt  in  Northamptonshire.  The 
quarries  of  Ketton  and  Clipsham  were  both  outside  the 
county;  and  just  as  in  Lincolnshire,  north  of  Stam- 
ford, the  Ancaster  quarries  had  their  influence  on  the 
county  west  of  the  Witham,  so  in  Northamptonshire 
the  masonwork  of  Rutland  seems  to  push  its  influence 

*  Two  of  the  three  church  spires  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Ban- 
bury  whose  respective  merits  are  best  described  in  the  well-known 
lines  : 

"  Bloxhara  for  length, 
Adderbury  for  strength, 
And    King's   Suttnn   for  beauty." 
228 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— con  tinned 

south  and  east  of  the  Welland  and  meet  the  type 
of  masonwork  represented  by  the  Nene  Valley 
churches. 

I  do  not  profess  to  have  seen  all  the  churches  in  the 
county,  between  three  and  four  hundred  in  number, 
but  I  am  acquainted  with  a  great  majority  of  them, 
including  all  the  most  celebrated,  which  are  those  of 
the  towns  and  villages  along  the  course  of  the  Nene 
from  Northampton  to  Peterborough.  Northampton- 
shire is,  more  conspicuously  than  any  other  part  of 
England  that  I  know,  the  land  of  handsome,  moderate- 
sized  parish  churches.  Its  monastic  institutions  were 
not  very  numerous,  and  it  contained  but  few  of  any 
consequence ;  and  nowhere,  with  the  glorious  exception 
of  the  cathedral  church — I  refer  of  course  to  Peter- 
borough— have  they  more  utterly  vanished  from  the 
earth.  That,  however,  hardly  belongs  to  Northamp- 
tonshire;  it  is  but  a  stone's  throw  from  the  border, 
and  belongs  to  that  grand  series  of  splendid  abbeys, 
extending  throughout  the  Fen  country,  of  which  no 
other  is  within  the  limits  of  the  county.  Nor  can  its 
architecture  be  said  to  have  greatly  influenced  that  of 
the  smaller  churches.  Of  the  other  religious  houses 
scarcely  any  traces  remain ;  Northampton  contained 
several,  but  they  are  completely  destroyed,  and  well- 
nigh  forgotten  ;  and  others  in  other  parts  of  the  county 
have  shared  the  same  fate.  They  are  utterly  gone; 
there  remain  neither  parochial  abbey  churches  like 
Waltham  or  Wymondham,  or  Dunstable,  or  Howden, 
nor  even  ruins.  The  only  considerable  monastic  frag- 
ment that  I  am  aware  of  is  the  west  front  and  a  small 
part  of  the  nave  of  the  priory  church  at  Canons  Ashby, 

229 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

and  this  can  hardly  be  called  distinctly  conventual  in 
its  architecture. 

And  the  collegiate  churches,  of  which  there  are 
several  in  the  county  are  in  no  important  respect 
different  from  the  simply  parochial  edifices,  being 
themselves  parish  churches,  with  colleges  attached  at 
a  later  period.  Even  when  the  fabric  has  received 
important  changes  at  the  close  of,  or  later  than,  the 
addition  of  the  collegiate  body,  they  are  indeed  often 
to  be  traced  in  increased  size  and  magnificence,  but 
not  in  anything  imparting  the  peculiar  character  of  a 
minster.  Thus  Higham  Ferrers,  one  of  the  finest 
churches,  not  only  along  the  course  of  the  Nene,  but 
in  the  count}',  received  no  alteration  of  importance 
when  made  collegiate  by  Archbishop  Chichele,  and 
the  more  remarkably  so  as  it  has  in  its  superb  western 
doorway — copied  by  Richard  Carpenter  in  his  well- 
known  church  of  St  Paul,  Brighton — a  thoroughly 
cathedral  feature  of  two  centuries  earlier. 

Irthlingborough,  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Nene, 
received  large  and  interesting  alterations  simultane- 
ously with  the  foundation  of  the  college  in  1376  by 
John  Pyel,  but  unless  we  so  consider  the  addition  of  a 
clerestory  to  the  choir  a  rare  feature  in  Northampton- 
shire, none  that  at  all  impart  a  collegiate  character  to 
the  church  itself. 

At  Cotterstock,  between  Oundle  and  Peterborough, 
the  erection  of  a  college  or  chantry  was  indeed  marked 
by  the  reconstruction  of  the  choir  in  the  flowing 
Decorated  style,  on  a  scale  of  surpassing  grandeur, 
throwing  into  utter  insignificance — as  at  Norbury  in 
Derbyshire—  tlic  diminutive  earlier  nave  to  which  it 

230 


is  attached ;  but  even  this  stately  structure  is  but  a 
common  parochial  chancel  without  even  the  degree  of 
pretension  given  by  the  addition  of  aisles. 

All  these  were  fourteenth-century  foundations  of  no 
great  riches  or  celebrity ;  but  the  remark  applies 
equally  to  the  existing  portions  of  the  church  belong- 
ing to  the  wealthy  and  royal  establishment  at 
Fotheringhay ;  the  nave  is  the  finest  of  its  own  date 
and  style  (late  Perpendicular)  in  the  whole  county, 
but  it  is  still  merely  a  fine  parish  church,  and  is 
surpassed  by  many  of  its  age  and  class  in  Somerset- 
shire. And  though  the  choir,  where  a  collegiate 
character  would  be  naturally  looked  for,  is  utterly 
destroyed,  the  weather  moulding  remains  on  the 
eastern  gable  of  the  nave  to  attest  its  height,  which 
was  so  much  inferior  to  the  nave,  that  it  could  not 
have  been  architecturally  the  most  dignified  portion 
of  the  building. 

The  churches  then  of  Northamptonshire  are  genuine 
parish  churches,  neither  swelling  into  minsters  nor 
sinking  into  chapels.  They  do  not  even  approach  the 
former  character  which  is  bestowed  by  the  cruciform 
plan  and  the  central  tower.  There  is  no  such  series 
of  cruciform  churches  as  the  neighbouring  county 
of  Oxford  supplies,  at  Witney,  Bampton,  Thame, 
Kidlington,  Cuddesdon,  and  Stanton  Harcourt ;  and 
though  the  churches  are  often  of  considerable  dimen- 
sions, several,  especially  in  the  north,  reaching  to  a 
length  of  from  a  hundred  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet, 
there  are  none  which  exhibit  the  common  parochial 
form  on  the  exaggerated  scale  of  Boston  or  Coventry 
or  Hull.  On  the  other  hand,  while  almost  every 

231 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

collection  of  houses  has  its  church,  that  church  is 
almost  always  a  genuine  church,  with  nave,  aisles, 
chancel,  and  tower ;  the  mere  chapel  or  aisleless 
church  are  objects  of  rare  occurrence. 

On  the  merits  of  these  buildings  in  an  architectural 
point  of  view  it  is  not  my  intenton  to  enlarge ;  suffice 
it  to  say  that  the  claim  of  Northamptonshire  to  a  place 
in  the  very  highest  rank  in  an  ecclesiological  map  of 
England  has  never  been  disputed.  Its  churches  are, 
for  the  most  part,  miscellaneous  assemblages  of  every 
period  of  church  architecture  from  Norman  to  Per- 
pendicular, but  all  is  of  the  very  best,  and  this  is 
why  I  have  called  attention  to  them  as  most  worth  the 
attention  of  the  architectural  student.  Let  him  open 
any  architectural  work,  and  he  will  find  no  district 
more  frequently  alluded  to,  none  supplying  more 
numerous  examples  both  of  singularities  and  beauties 
from  the  Anglo-Saxon  of  Barnack,  Brigstock,  Earls 
Barton,  Stowe-Nine-Churches  and  Wettering,  to  the 
expiring  Gothic  of  Whiston ;  from  the  most  ancient 
church  in  England  still  applied  to  sacred  uses,  to  the 
last  that  was  erected  before  ecclesiastical  architecture 
became  thoroughly  debased. 

If  anyone  would  know  what  art  can  do  for  nature, 
I  should  recommend  a  visit  to  that  superb  group  of 
churches  all  within  easy  reach  of  Higham  Ferrers— 
Rushden,  Finedon,  Raunds,  Stanwick,  Irthling- 
borough,  Ringstead;  or  to  that  which,  equally 
accessible  from  one  of  the  most  charming  old  country 
towns  in  England — Oundle — comprises  such  gems  as 
Polebrook,  Cotterstock,  Tansor,  and  Warmington. 
I  often  think  what  a  prospect  it  would  be  if  Gloucester- 

232 


ST.    MAKV,     ST. \MIOKI). 
.arlv   Knglish  'I'o\vcr,   and   Decorated   Sp 


']'<>  fact-  p.   232. 


THE   EARLY   ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

shire  provided  churches  which  we  might  contemplate 
from  the  hills,  or  if  Northamptonshire  provided  hills 
from  which  we  might  contemplate  the  churches.  If 
Higham  Ferrers  and  Oundle  could  occupy  the  sites 
of  Dursley  and  Stroud,  I  can  conceive  no  nearer 
approach  to  that  terrestrial  paradise  of  which  Sir  John 
Mandeville  informs  us  that  he  could  give  no  account, 
adding  the  very  sufficient  reason  that  he  never  was 
there. 

Northamptonshire  has  been  called  the  land  of 
squires  and  spires,  and  it  is  undoubtedly  pre-eminent 
in  examples  of  the  latter,  ranging  from  the  Early- 
English  or  incipient  Decorated  of  Achurch,  Elton, 
Kingsthorpe,  Polebrook,  Raunds,  and  Warmington, 
through  the  fully  developed  Decorated  of  Aldwincle 
(St  Peter's),  Barnwell  (St  Andrew),  Brampton,  Fine- 
don,  Irchester,  Stanwick,  Weekley  (smallest  of 
Decorated  spires),  Wellingborough,  and  Wilby,  to  the 
Perpendicular  of  Islip,  King's  Sutton,  Kettering, 
Middleton  Cheney,  Oundle,  Rushden,  and  Uffington. 

The  Northamptonshire  spires,  or,  as  they  are 
locally  termed,  broaches,  are  not,  with  some  splendid 
exceptions,  very  lofty,  in  fact,  rather  squat  than 
otherwise,  and  with  a  very  marked  character  produced 
by  two  or  three  rows  of  strongly  projecting  spire 
lights.  The  towers  on  which  they  stand  are  not 
usually  remarkable  for  their  height,  being  often  very 
much  like  the  low  early  towers  of  the  other  part  of  the 
county  with  the  addition  of  the  spire.*  There  is  equal 
variety  in  the  buttresses,  but  the  diagonal  buttress 
and  corner  turret  are  more  usual  than  in  the  towers 

*  As  e.g.  Raunds,  Irchester,  and  Stanion. 
233 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

without  spires.  There  is  very  frequently  no  western 
doorway,  and  the  west  window  is  commonly  a  single 
lancet  or  other  composition  of  no  great  size. 

Of  the  Northamptonshire  towers  without  spires,  it 
is  hard  to  predicate  anything  very  distinctive.  They 
are  of  all  dates  and  styles,  from  Saxon  to  Per- 
pendicular, and  chiefly  agree  in  negative  points ;  even 
among  those  of  the  same  period  there  is  seldom  any 
marked  resemblance.  They  are  scarcely  ever  very 
lofty  or  elaborate,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are 
not  frequently  displeasing  to  the  eye. 

It  is  impossible  in  this  place  to  give  a  list,  however 
imperfect,  of  the  Northamptonshire  towers  illustrating 
the  several  periods  of  church  architecture,  but  I  cannot 
refrain  from  mentioning  such  rich  and  stately 
examples  as  the  Perpendicular  ones  of  Aldwincle,  All 
Saints,  Elton,  Fotheringhay,  Lowick  (both  crowned 
with  octagonal  lanterns),  Titchmarsh,  and  Whiston. 

The  outlines  of  the  Leicestershire  churches  are,  on 
the  whole,  much  the  same  as  those  of  Northampton- 
shire; but  as  that  district  has  many  more  examples 
of  small,  rude,  and  imperfect  designs,  there  are  of 
course  many  more  instances  of  the  general  type  not 
being  so  completely  carried  out ;  there  are  many  more 
churches  without  aisles,  or  with  a  single  one;  but  in 
those  which  do  present  the  complete  type  it  varies  but 
little  from  that  prevalent  in  Northamptonshire.  The 
cruciform  plan  and  central  tower  are,  as  far  as  my 
experience  goes,  still  rarer,  excepting  Melton  Mow- 
bray,  and  St  Martin's  in  Leicester,  which,  as  well  as 
the  other  mediaeval  churches  with  which  the  county 
town  is  so  richly  endowed— All  Saints,  St  Margaret's, 

254 


THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  STYLE— con*  ww^ 

St  Mary's,  and  St  Nicholas — do  not,  like  those 
in  Northamptonshire,  exhibit  many  of  the  local 
peculiarities.*  Barrow-upon-Soar  is  an  example  of  a 
church  with  very  long  transepts,  but  as  they  are  lower 
than  the  main  body,  and  the  tower  is  western,  but 
little  cruciform  effect  is  obtained.  But  two  churches 
— Frisby  and  Asfordby — are  remarkable  for  single 
south  transepts,  even  more  conspicuous  than  that 
at  Northborough,  as  being  furnished  with  western 
aisles.  The  towers  are  as  generally  western  as  in 
Northamptonshire.  The  clerestory  is  not  quite  so 
universal,  and  is  far  more  generally  a  Perpendicular 
addition.  St  Mary's,  Leicester,  has  a  northern 
clerestory  of  Norman  lancets  to  its  nave,  while 
above  the  geometrical  Decorated  windows  of  its 
southern  aisle,  or  rather  nave,  for  it  is  broader  than 
the  original  nave,  resembling  somewhat  the  vast  north 
and  south  naves  of  St  Nicholas,  Great  Yarmouth,  is  a 
tier  of  smaller  windows  of  the  same  epoch.  This 
practice  of  lighting  a  lofty  wall  with  two  ranges  of 
windows  is  not  uncommon  in  Leicestershire,  and 
several  instances  of  it  occur  in  Bedfordshire,  among 
them  being  the  spacious  church  of  St  Paul,  in  Bedford 
itself.  There  are  Decorated  clerestories  at  Gaddesby 
and  Rotherby,  but  the  work  is  generally  much  better 
than  is  common  in  the  Perpendicular  clerestories  in 
Northamptonshire.  Chancel  aisles  and  chapels  are 
much  rarer  than  in  that  district. 

The  Leicestershire  spires  are,  on  the  whole,  inferior 
to  those  of  Northamptonshire.     The  broach,  indeed, 

*  Leicester  is  equally  rich  in  churches  built  since  the  Gothic 
revival ;  among  them  must  be  mentioned,  St  John's,  St  Matthew's 
and  St  Saviour's  by  Sir  Gilbert  Scott. 

235 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

is  common,  and  excellent  examples  occur  at  Gaddesby 
and  Oadb}'.  An  admirable  specimen  of  the  shorter  and 
thicker  kinds  is  at  Barkby,  which  is  remarkable  for  its 
panelled  bands,  and,  above  all,  at  Market  Harborough, 
which  must  certainly  be  allowed  to  surpass  any  in 
Northamptonshire.  The  very  lofty  Decorated  tower 
of  St  Dionysius'  batters  and  displays  an  excellent 
double-windowed  belfry-stage ;  the  spire,  shorter  in 
proportion  than  many  others,  is  crocketed.  But  most 
of  the  Leicestershire  spires  are  inferior  both  in 
elevation  and  design ;  the  later  ones  usually  rise 
uninterruptedly  from  the  centre  of  an  embattled  tower, 
with  or  without  pinnacles,  and  are  seldom  of  any  great 
height,  with  a  few  fine  exceptions,  as  Queenborough, 
and  St  Mary's,  Leicester.  Numerous  examples 
occur  at  Frisby,  Asfordby,  Brooksby,  Knighton,  Earls 
Shilton,  and  elsewhere.  But  the  most  interesting, 
though  not  the  most  beautiful  class  of  spires  in  this 
county  are  those  which  illustrate  the  transition 
between  the  two  principal  forms. 

One  or  two  examples,  as  Aylestone  and  Hoby, 
occur  of  the  Northamptonshire  type  of  spire  seen  at 
Denford  and  Woodford,  the  square-based  broach  rising 
within  a  parapet.  At  Blaby  we  have  the  real  broach, 
with  very  small  squinches  similarly  treated ;  and  at 
Gilmorton  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  spires  I 
have  ever  seen.  From  within  a  battlemented  parapet 
there  rises  a  broach  remarkable  for  the  extreme  con- 
vexity both  of  its  own  lines  and  those  of  the  squinches. 
This  seems  quite  unnatural ;  the  usual  development 
leads  us  from  the  spire  at  Blaby  to  the  plain  parapet 
which  we  see  at  the  two  spires  at  Wigston — one  of 

236 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

them  as  good  a  steeple  as  such  an  arrangement  will 
show — and  from  thence  to  the  ordinary  embattled 
form.  I  must  not  omit  to  say  that  Leicestershire 
contains  at  least  one  example  of  the  Perpendicular 
broach,  namely  at  South  Kilworth  on  the  Northamp- 
tonshire border. 

In  referring  to  Northamptonshire  as  a  particularly 
rich  field  for  the  ecclesiologist,  I  have  dwelt  more 
particularly  on  the  churches  of  the  district  north  and 
east  of  the  county  town,  and  to  the  special  type  of 
architecture  which  was  developed  in  and  near  the 
valley  of  the  Nene.  The  churches  of  the  Welland 
Valley  on  the  north-east  border  of  the  county,  although 
inferior  to  those  of  the  Nene  Valley,  form  a  subdivision 
of  the  same  architectural  province,  connecting  it  with 
the  churches  of  Leicestershire  and  Rutland ;  while  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Peterborough  we  come  into  close 
relation  with  the  fenland  and  marshland  churches  of 
Lincolnshire,  and  the  district  round  Wisbech,  which 
owe  their  exceptional  beauty  to  the  use  of  Barnack 
stone.  There  are  thus  points  in  common  between  the 
architectural  conditions  of  Northamptonshire  and 
those  of  Lincolnshire,  and  in  both  cases  the  county 
town  stands  at  a  point  at  the  head  of  a  navigable  river, 
where  on  one  side  in  an  upland  and  scantily  watered 
district  the  interest  of  the  church  fabrics  is  occasional 
and  unequal,  while  on  the  other  side  in  the  well- 
watered  lowlands  almost  every  church  has  a  special 
claim  to  distinction.  It  may  be  noted,  however,  that 
while  the  church  architecture  of  Lincolnshire  affects 
rather  than  is  affected  by  the  influence  of  the  neigh- 
bouring counties,  the  borders  of  Northamptonshire, 

237 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

an  entirely  inland  shire,  show  a  distinct  tendency  to 
receive  impressions  from  outside. 

The  Lincolnshire  spires — I  refer  especially  to  those 
in  the  district  above  alluded  to — have  more  individual 
and  less  local  character  than  their  Northamptonshire 
neighbours,  and  it  is  much  less  easy  to  classify  them. 
The  broach  is  less  common,  double  buttresses,  often 
gabled,  are  continually  found  running  up  the  whole 
height  of  the  tower  there.  In  Northamptonshire  and 
Leicestershire  the  projecting  buttress,  except  it  be 
diagonal,  and,  indeed,  often  then,  usually  terminates 
under  the  belfry-stage ;  and  between  a  pair  of 
these  buttresses  it  is  not  uncommon  to  find  a  stair- 
case turret  introduced  in  a  somewhat  awkward 
manner. 

Of  the  Lincolnshire  spires  of  various  dates  in  the 
south-eastern  part  of  the  county,  the  following  are 
among  the  finest  to  be  found  in  any  part  of  Europe— 
Sleaford,  Helpringham,  Ewerby,  Heckington,  Frainp- 
ton,  Moulton,  and  Holbeach.  In  other  parts  of  the 
county  the  spires  of  St  Mary's  and  All  Saints, 
Stamford,  Aunisby,  Anwick,  Walcot,  Grantham,  and 
Louth,  are,  generally  speaking,  magnificent  instances 
of  that  true  spire  in  which  the  octagonal  form  dies  on 
the  square,  thus  leaving  the  angles  of  the  tower  for 
real  or  apparent  buttresses,  while  the  gabled  spire 
lights  die  back  on  the  slope  of  the  spire. 

The  Rutlandshire  spires  of  Ketton  (a  copy  of  that 
osf  St  Mary,  Stamford)  Decorated  on  an  Early  English 
tower,  Langham,  a  valuable  Early  English  example, 
Exton,  where  it  rises  from  an  octagonal  story,  Cottes- 
niore  and  Oakham,  vie  with  those  of  Lincolnshire  and 

238 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— con  tinned 

Northamptonshire  in  their  claims  to  be  considered  as 
models  for  imitation. 

Considering  its  small  dimensions,  Huntingdonshire 
contains  a  large  number  (one  hundred  and  six)  of  inter- 
esting churches,  which  from  their  great  merit  entitle 
the  county  to  a  very  good  position  in  the  ecclesiastical 
topography  of  England.     Some  of  these  churches  are 
of  great  importance,  both  as  to  size  and  beauty,  and  in 
consideration  of  their  excellent  detail  are  deserving  of 
attentive   and   careful    examination.     Good    building 
stone  being  at  hand,  the  external  appearance  of  the 
Huntingdonshire   churches,    like   those    of   the   con- 
tiguous Northants,  is  much  more  imposing  than  in 
some  others  where  stone  is  not  so  readily  procured. 
Many    have    delicate    and    elaborate    details    on    the 
exterior,    principally    in    doorways,    windows,     and 
ornamental   panelling.     Every    style    is    represented 
from  Norman  to  late  Perpendicular.     Spires  form  a 
very  important  feature  in  the  county,  and  are  of  all 
epochs.     One  of  the  tallest  and  most  beautiful  of  this 
or  any  other  county  being  the  late  Decorated  one  of 
Keystone,  on  the  main  road  between  Huntingdon  and 
Thrapstone,    and   which    like    several    others    on    or 
near  the  same  line  of  route — Brington,  Buckworth, 
Bythorne,  and  Spaldwick — feature  those  of  Northamp- 
tonshire. 

Within  easy  access  of  Huntingdon,  which  contains 
two  very  interesting  churches — All  Saints  and  St 
Mary's — and  lying  amid  the  pastoral  country  on 
either  side  the  Ouse,  are  Godmanchester,  Houghton, 
Hemingford  Abbots,  Fenstanton,  Bluntisham,  and 
St  Ives.  On  the  road  from  St  Ives  to  Ramsey  lie 

239 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Broughton  and  Warboys ;  on  or  near  that  from 
Huntingdon  to  Peterborough  are  Alconbury,  Steeple, 
and  Great  Gidding,  and  Winwick ;  Swineshead  neigh- 
bours Kimbolton ;  while  in  the  extreme  north  of  the 
county,  and  for  which  Peterborough  will  be  found 
the  most  convenient  centre,  are  Fletton,  Stangrove, 
Chesterton,  Water  Newton,  and  Yaxley,  the  spire  of 
the  last  named  being  the  only  crocketed  one  in  the 
county. 

In  other  parts  of  the  country  where  the  spire  is 
not  localised  as  it  is  in  the  counties  just  considered, 
but  may  be  looked  upon  as  an  exception,  we  have  in 
Warwickshire  noble  examples  at  Coventry  (Holy 
Trinity  and  St  Michael's),  Solihull,  and  South  am ; 
in  Oxfordshire,  Adderbury,  Bloxham,  Burford, 
Witney,  the  cathedral  and  St  Mary's,  Oxford ;  in 
Cambridgeshire,  Whittlesea  and  Leverington ;  in 
Bedfordshire,  St  Paul's,  Bedford;  Leighton  Buzzard, 
Harrold,  Pavenham,  Podington,  Shambrook,  Soul- 
drop,  Wimington,  and  Yelden.  Nottinghamshire 
presents  two  notable  spires  in  those  of  Bingham  and 
St  Mary  Magdalene's,  Newark ;  Essex  in  Bishop 
Stortford,  Saffron  Walden,  and  Thaxted,  all  in  the 
north-western  part  of  the  county ;  and  Derbyshire  in 
Ashbourne,  Bakewell,  and  Repton. 

In  the  south  and  west  of  England,  where  the 
embattled  or  pinnacled  tower  is  the  rule,  the  lofty 
enriched  stone  spire  is  hardly  to  be  met  with,  but 
examples  occur  of  the  tall  plain  spire  without  gabled 
lights  or  any  other  enrichment  in  Sussex,  at  West 
Tarring,  and  Chiddingley ;  at  St  Michael's,  South- 
ampton; Croscombe,  Frome,  Selwood,  and  Whatley, 

240 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

Somerset;  Down  Ampney,  Lechlade,  and  Painswick, 
Gloucestershire;  Ledbury  and  Ross,  Herefordshire. 
In  the  north  midlands  we  find  the  tall  plain  spire  at 
Ashover  and  Bakewell  in  Derbyshire,  and  at  Atten- 
borough,  Nottinghamshire.  Yorkshire  presents 
several  pleasing  examples  of  this  type  of  spire  in  the 
churches  of  Bray  ton,  Hemingborough,  Masham,  and 
St  Mary  Goodramgate,  York ;  and  in  Durham  there 
is  such  a  spire  at  Chester-le-Street. 

At  Lostwithiel  in  Cornwall  there  is  a  singular 
steeple.  The  tower,  square  and  very  plain,  is 
'  canted  "  at  each  angle  to  receive  an  octagonal  story. 
This  has  on  each  side  a  rather  tall  window  of  two 
uncusped  lancet-shaped  lights  surmounted  by  a  gable, 
a  quatrefoil  being  pierced  in  the  space  formed  by  it 
with  the  lights.  At  about  midheight  the  mullions  of 
these  windows  are  covered  by  a  piece  of  masonry 
alternately  circular  and  square,  and  pierced  with 
tracery.  The  spire,  although  well  proportioned,  is 
plain,  and  has  only  one  small  gabled  light  in  the  lower 
part  of  each  of  its  cardinal  sides. 

A  few  words  on  the  English  village  church  may 
not  inappropriately  close  this  chapter  of  our  history. 
There  is,  as  far  as  I  know,  no  country  in  Europe 
where  the  village  has  retained  so  much  of  its  primitive 
importance  as  England.  Nowhere  has  the  influence 
of  the  great  towns  been — until  within  recent 
years — so  little  felt.  The  Englishman  is,  after  all, 
essentially  a  country  man,  and  country  life  is  not 
more  the  birthright  of  the  gentleman  than  it  is  the 
aspiration  of  the  successful  man  of  business.  It  is 
not,  therefore,  unnatural  that  our  village  churches 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

should  be  the  especial  pride  of  our  national  archi- 
tecture. 

Our  cathedrals,  with  some  noble  exceptions,  are 
surpassed  by  the  great  churches  of  Continental  cities. 
Our  abbeys — themselves  centres  of  agricultural  life 
which  were  once  the  glory  of  England — have  passed 
away;  but  the  village  churches  still  remain,  so  far, 
at  least,  as  the  hands  of  the  restorer  have  spared 
them,  as  the  finest  monuments  of  the  architectural 
genius  and  the  practical  piety  of  the  past  generations 
of  Englishmen — belong  to  what  period  the}^  ma}^. 

The  village  is,  next  to  the  family,  the  simplest  and 
least  artificial  of  all  the  forms  of  social  organisation, 
and  it  has  continued  through  all  the  changes  which 
religion  and  politics  have  undergone  in  the  main 
unchanged.  It  still  consists  essentially  of  the  same 
elements  which  constituted  the  little  primitive  com- 
munity from  which  it  takes  its  origin,  and  it  forms  to 
this  day,  as  it  did  in  the  first,  the  unit  of  all  political 
association. 

The  village  church  has  besides  a  peculiar  interest 
of  its  own.  It  is  the  only  public  building  which  a 
village,  as  a  rule,  possesses.  It  is  the  central  point 
of  the  common  life,  the  building  which  typifies  the 
oneness  of  the  little  community.  Cities  have  beside 
their  great  churches  or  their  cathedral,  their  town 
halls,  their  market  halls,  their  assize  courts,  their 
theatres,  all  connected  in  different  ways  with  the 
common  life  to  which  they  minister,  and  which  they 
symbolise;  but  the  village  has  only  its  church  and 
its  churchyard.  Here  alone  all  meet  on  equal  terms, 
and  with  an  equal  right,  as  members  of  one  little 

242 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— con  tinned 

society  of  which  the  church  forms  naturally  the 
centre. 

We  have  thus  passed  in  review  some  of  the  fairest 
buildings  raised  in  this  country  during  the  first  half 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  during  whose  progress  all 
that  is  noble  in  modern  art  took  its  origin.  Mind 
awoke  from  its  paralysis,  and  step  by  step  rapidly 
advanced  in  the  development  of  its  theoretic  faculties. 
Knowledge  kept  pace  with  idea.  Religion  and 
patriotism  stamped  their  image  on  (progress.  Art 
assumed  the  position  of  teacher ;  the  people  clapped 
their  hands  with  joy  as  the  new  light  broke  upon  them. 
The  mental  movement  throughout  Europe  was  univer- 
sal and  sincere.  It  was  a  popular  movement,  and 
taking  root  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  grew  and 
flourished  as  art  as  a  whole  had  never  done  before  and 
has  never  since.  It  covered  Europe  with  religious 
edifices  of  a  character  at  once  the  reverence  and  despair 
of  all  after  time.  It  gave  us  Salisbury  and  Wells  and 
Westminster ;  Rouen,  Chartres  and  Rheims ;  Cologne, 
Altenberg  and  Ratisbon ;  Genoa,  Assisi  and  Lucca; 
Burgos,  Leon  and  Toledo.  To  build  as  the  mediae- 
valists  built  we  must  feel  as  they  felt.  Every  stone 
was  laid  in  sincerity.  There  is  no  thought  more 
apparent  on  these  hoary  stone  records  of  a  believine 
generation  than  the  sincerity  of  the  spirit  which  led  to 
their  erection. 

Pride  of  architecture  and  vanity  of  display  came  in 
with  Renaissance  sensualism,  but  mediaevalism  stands 
in  history  the  solitary  exponent  of  the  principle  of 
labour  for  its  true  end — the  development  of  the  spirit. 
Hence  its  greatness.  Practical  knowledge  was  often 

243 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

wanting,  but  the  people  went  to  art  as  little  children 
willing  to  be  taught ;  she  did  teach  and  elevate  them, 
and  the  people  grew  and  flourished  in  spiritual  truth 
until  the  reign  of  tyrants  commenced,  and  sensualism 
blasted  the  fruit  before  it  fully  ripened.  True  it  is 
that  political  wisdom  was  imperfectly  understood,  and 
"civilisation  in  its  most  useful  character  of  order  was 
as  yet  undeveloped.  Still  commerce  flourished,  free 
cities  multiplied,  science  spread,  and  all  would  have 
been  well  for  the  social  fabric  had  the  people  under- 
stood the  strength  of  union.  Tyranny  made  them  its 
servants  through  domestic  discord.  Aside  from  the 
social  question,  art  in  their  hands  was  unquestionably 
lofty.  Artists  were  ennobled  in  the  public  heart. 
They  were  both  its  leaders  and  its  servants. 

A    list    of    some   of    the    most    remarkable    Earh- 
English  buildings,  1190-1270. 

Abbey  Dore  Church,  Herefordshire,  choir. 

Abingdon,  Berks,  St  Helen's,  inner  door  of  tower. 

Acton  Burnell,  Salop,  east  window. 

Auckland,  Durham,  St  Andrew. 

Aumsby  Church,  Lincolnshire,  tower  and  spire. 

Aylesbury  Church,  Buckinghamshire,  chancel. 

Barrington,    Cambridgeshire,    south    doorway,    nave 

arcade. 

Berkeley  Church,  Gloucestershire. 
Beverley  Minster,  choir  and  transepts. 
Bicester,  Oxon,  doorway. 
Billingham  Church,  Durham. 
Binham  Priory,  Norfolk,  west  front. 

244 


DARLINGTON    CIU'RC'II.    IH'RHAM. 

(Karly    KnjjlUM 


lo  face  p.  244. 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— con  tinned 

Bishop  Auckland,  Durham,  chapel  in  palace. 
Bledlow  Church,  Buckinghamshire,  nave  arcade. 
Bolton  Abbey,  Yorkshire,  west  front. 
Boxgrove  Priory  Church,  Sussex,  choir. 
Brackley,    Northants,    east    window    of    Magdalene 

College  Chapel. 

Bridlington  Priory  Church,  Yorkshire,  north  porch. 
Bristol  Cathedral,  Elder  Lady  Chapel. 

Cambridge,  Chapel  of  Jesus  College,  entrance  to  the 

chapter-house. 

Canons  Ashby  Church,  Northants,  west  door. 
Carlisle  Cathedral,  choir  aisles  and  arches. 
Castle  Acre  Church,  Norfolk,  east  window. 
Chester  Cathedral,  chapter-house,  and  eastern  part  of 

choir. 
Chichester  Cathedral,  western  and  southern  porches, 

outer  aisles  of  the  nave. 
Chipstead  Church,  Surrey. 
Christchurch  Priory,  Hants,  porch. 
Darlington,  Durham,  St  Cuthbert's. 
Dunstable  Priory  Church,  Bedfordshire,  west  front. 
Durham  Cathedral,  eastern  transept,  western  towers 

(all  above  springing  of  nave  roof). 
East  Dereham  Church,  Norfolk,  chancel,  sedilia  and 

piscina. 

Eaton  Bray  Church,  Berkshire,  north  arcade  of  nave. 
Ely    Cathedral,    galilee    porch,    western    tower,    six 

eastern  bays  of  choir. 

Felmersham  Church,  Bedfordshire. 
Folkstone,  SS.  Mary  and  Eanswith,  chancel. 

Gloucester  Cathedral,  vaulting  of  nave  and  aisles. 

245 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Hartlepool,  Durham,  St  Hilda's. 

Hedon,  Yorkshire,  St  Augustine's,  transepts  and 
choir. 

Helpringham  Church,  Lincolnshire,  sedilia  and 
credence. 

Henbury  Church  near  Bristol,  nave  arcades. 

Hereford  Cathedral,  clerestory  and  vaulting  of  choir, 
Lady  Chapel  (St  John's  Church). 

Hexham  Abbey,  Northumberland,  choir  and  tran- 
septs. 

Higham  Ferrers  Church,  Northants,  lower  part  of 
tower  and  west  entrance. 

Itchenor  Church,  Sussex. 

Ketton  Church,  Rutlandshire. 

Kirkstead  Chapel,  near  Horncastle,  Lincolnshire. 

Lambeth  Palace,  the  chapel. 

Leicester,  St  Margaret's,  eastern  bay  of  nave  on  north 

side   (very  early  and  interesting),   St  Martin's, 

tower    arches    and    nave    arcades,     St    Mary's, 

portions.* 

Leighton  Buzzard  Church,  Bedfordshire. 
Lichrield    Cathedral,    three    western    bays    of    choir, 

transepts,  chapter-house. 
Lincoln  Cathedral,  choir  and  eastern  transepts,  lower 

part    of    central    tower,    great    transepts,    nave, 

chapter-house. 
Llandaff  Cathedral,  the  greater  portion. 

*  All  the  ancient  churches  of  Leicester,  being  miscellaneous 
assemblages  of  architecture,  present  problems  for  the  solution  of 
the  ecclesiologist.  An  excellent  paper  was  read  upon  them  before 
the  Architectural  Societies  of  Lincoln  and  Northampton  by  RCY. 
O.  Ayclyffe  Poole,  at  Leicester,  xyth  May,  1854. 

246 


THE    EARLY    ENGLISH    STYLE— continued 

London,  choir  of  the  Temple  Church. 
London,  crypt  of  St  John's,  Clerkenwell . 

Merstham  Church,  Surrey. 

Minster  Church,  Thanet,  choir  and  transepts. 

Nun  Monkton  Church,  near  York. 

Oxford  Cathedral,  Lady  Chapel,  chapter-house,  cen- 
tral tower  and  spire. 

Pershore  Abbey,  Worcestershire,  choir. 

Peterborough  Cathedral,  western  facade,  arcade  at 
west  end  of  infirmary,  north-western  tower, 
monks'  doorway  from  destroyed  cloisters. 

Polebrook  Church,  Northants,  chancel,  tower  and 
spire. 

Portsmouth,  St  Thomas's  Church. 

Raunds  Church,  Northants,  tower  and  spire,   north 

arcade  of  chancel,  east  window. 
Ripon  Cathedral,  west  front  and  towers. 
Rochester  Cathedral,  choir, and  transepts. 
Romsey  Abbey,  Hants,  three  western  bays  of  nave. 

Salisbury  Cathedral. 

Sandwich,  Kent,  St  Bartholomew's  Chapel. 

Sedgefield  Church,  Durham. 

Shrewsbury,  St  Mary's,  nave  arcades. 

Southwark  Cathedral,  choir  and  chapels. 

Southwell  Cathedral,  choir. 

Stamford,  St  Mary's,  tower;  All  Saints,  arcades  of 

nave  and  chancel. 
St  Albans  Cathedral,  the  first  four  bays  on  the  north 

side  of  the  nave,  and  the  first  five  on  the  south. 
St  David's  Cathedral,  upper  parts  of  choir,  east  end. 

347 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Stafford,  St  Mary's,  nave  arcade. 

Staindrop  Church,  Durham,  nave  arcade  and  sedilia. 

Sutton  St  Mary,  Lincolnshire,  tower  and  spire. 

Terrington  St  Clement's,  Norfolk,  sedilia. 

Thaine,  St  Mary  the  Virgin,  Oxon,  piers  and  arches 
of  central  tower,  nave  arcade,  four  lancet  windows 
on  north  side  of  chancel.  (One  of  the  most  inter- 
esting and  beautiful  assemblages  of  miscellane- 
ous architecture  in  the  kingdom.) 

Towcester  Church,  Northants,  nave  arcade. 

Uffington  Church,  Berkshire. 

Wappenbury  Church,  Warwickshire. 

Warinington  Church,  Northants. 

Wells  Cathedral,  the  greater  portion. 

Westminster  Abbey,  the  greater  portion. 

Weston  Church,  Lincolnshire. 

West  Walton  Church,  Norfolk,  detached  tower,  west 
door,  nave  arcade. 

Westwell  Church,  Kent,  east  end. 

Whaplode  Church,  Lincolnshire,  tower,  western  door- 
way. 

Witney  Church,  Oxon. 

Whitchurch,  Dorset,  St  Candida,  north  arcade  of 
nave. 

Wim borne  Minster,  choir  and  transepts. 

Winchester  Cathedral,  retro-choir. 

Worcester  Cathedral,  choir,  eastern  transepts  and 
Lady  Chapel. 

York  Minster,  transepts,  tomb  of  Archbishop  Walter 
de  Grey. 

248 


I 


IMA      UKO.ss      Mil       \\\1.     SIR  \SMIKI.     c  A  I  1 1 1!  >R\  I.. 


I.-IM  <  n.iitii    i  'I   tin    l;it!i  r  i>;iri  ol    tin-    I  liirti-i-nlh  Ccnturv.) 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    DECORATED    STYLE,  1270-1350 

Its  growth  from  the  preceding  style — General  characteristic* — 
Reconstructions  of,  and  additions  to,  earlier  works — Column* 
— Window  tracery — Foliage  and  figure  sculpture — Woodwork 
— Roofs. 

THE  period  of  Gothic  architecture  which  we  are  to 
consider  in  this  chapter  is  that  which  is  generally 
known  as  the  "  Decorated  '  and  also  as  the 
"second"  or "  middle  pointed"  style.  The  first 
denomination  was  first  applied  to  it  by  Rickman, 
Whewell  and  other  writers  early  in  the  last  century; 
the  second,  from  its  being  intermediate  between 
"first  pointed"  or  "Early  English,"  and  the 
"third  pointed"  or  "Perpendicular"  was  the  in- 
vention of  the  Cambridge  Camden  (afterwards  ' '  The 
Ecclesiological  ")  Society  when  it  entered  upon  its 
useful  labours  the  year  after  Queen  Victoria  came  to 
the  throne.  Sometimes  it  goes  by  the  name  of 

'  fourteenth-century  architecture."  This,  how- 
ever, is  a  rough  term  of  distinction  between  it  and 
the  so-called  "thirteenth  and  fifteenth-century 
periods,"  and  is,  in  fact,  a  rather  misleading  one,  as 
the  change  from  the  preceding  style  commenced  many 

years  before  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

A  short  transitional  period,  not  easily  defined  with 

249 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

precision,  occurred  between  the  Early  English  style 
and  the  full  development  of  the  Decorated.  So  imper- 
ceptibly did  it  grow  out  of  the  previous  style  that 
it  is  a  matter  of  difficulty  to  draw  any  line  of  demar- 
cation. But  we  may  pretty  safely  assign  from  1272 
to  1307  to  the  early  or  geometrical  Decorated,  and 
to  the  Decorated,  comprising  the  remainder  of  the  term 
usually  assigned,  the  next  sixty  years  chiefly  by 
window  tracery  and  foliage  ornament. 

Now  the  change  in  style,  from  Early  English  to 
Decorated  is  to  be  regarded  really  as  a  development 
of  the  former  of  these  two,  there  being,  as  I  reminded 
my  readers  in  the  previous  chapter,  no  difference  in 
principle  between  thirteenth  and  fourteenth-century 
work.  In  the  thirteeenth  century  the  use  of  the 
pointed  arch,  both  for  constructive  and  ornamental 
purposes  effected  a  revolution  in  architecture.  The 
designing  of  a  great  building  was  set  about  in  a  per- 
fectly novel  manner.  Instead  of  erecting  huge 
masses  of  masonry  to  carry  nothing  more  than  a 
wooden  roof  as  the  Normans  generally  did,  the  con- 
struction of  the  "  pointed  '  groined  stone  ceiling 
influenced  the  designer  in  his  whole  plan,  and  he  had 
to  place  his  piers  and  supports  in  such  positions,  and 
to  make  them  of  such  proportions  as  would  both  carry 
and  support  the  weights  and  thrusts  of  his  walls  and 
groining.  The  Normans  did  not  thoroughly  under- 
stand any  such  principles  of  construction  ;  and  conse- 
quently their  towers  fell  in  all  directions  over 
England ;  while  what  little  now  remains  of  their 
attempts  at  groining  (excepting  the  Roman  ribless 
form  used  in  their  crypts)  is  more  or  less  dilapidated. 

250 


With  the  newly  built  noble  pointed  cathedrals  and 
churches  before  them,  the  architects  of  the  latter  part 
of  the  thirteenth  century  were  content  to  take  their 
starting-point  from  what  they  saw,  and  to  try  their 
best  to  improve  upon  them,  or,  at  all  events,  to 
develop  the  earlier  style  in  various  forms  to  suit  the 
ever-changing  fashion  of  their  age.  It  is  difficult  now 
for  us  to  understand  the  utter  irreverence  (as  we 
should  think  it)  shown  towards  the  earlier  work  by 
these  men.  Working  in  the  favourite  style  of  their  own 
day,  they  evidently  felt  the  most  perfect  confidence 
that  their  own  style  and  no  other  was  the  perfect  one. 
Norman  choirs  and  towers  were  cleared  away,  without 
compunction.  The  anti-restoration  societies,  had  they 
then  been  in  existence,  would  have  had  hard  work  in 
protesting  against  the  destruction  of  old  work  !  They 
would  have  been  swept  away  by  the  flood  of  new  ideas 
incessantly  following  each  othera  thought  out  and 
carried  into  execution  by  men  who  believed  intensely 
in  their  own  work,  and  but  little  in  that  of  their  pre- 
decessors, each  using  the  older  style  as  one  to  be 
improved  upon,  and  not  on  any  account  to  be  copied  or 
strictly  reproduced.  We  may  regret  that  at  York, 
Westminster,  Canterbury,  and  many  other  buildings 
the  grand  Norman  choirs  are  gone ;  yet  far  nobler 
works  replace  them,  and  give  to  those  buildings  a 
greater  interest  than  they  would  otherwise  have 
possessed.  But  with  all  the  changes  brought  about, 
there  was,  in  England,  a  certain  sense  of  unity  pre- 
served ;  over  and  over  again  we  find  the  proportions  of 
later  styles  influenced  by  those  of  the  early  Norman 
work,  where  the  two  had  to  be  grouped  into  one  whole. 

251 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Take  the  choir  and  presbytery  of  Ely  Cathedral  for 
example.  These  parts  of  the  church  from  totally 
different  causes  were  rebuilt  at  epochs  remote  from  one 
another,  but  their  architects  were  most  careful  in 
making  their  pier  arches,  their  triforia  and  their  clere- 
stories of  the  same  proportions  as  the  Norman  ones. 
On  the  contrary  the  builders  of  the  choirs  qf  Beauvais 
and  Le  Mans,  or  Bordeaux  and  Toulouse  thought 
differently.  They  designed  their  proportions  without 
any  reference  whatever  to  the  preceding  work ;  and 
grand  and  truly  magnificent  as  their  works  are,  there 
is  wanting  the  sense  of  unity  which  is  evident  at  Ely, 
St  Albans,  Lincoln,  and  Westminster. 

About  the  end  of  Henry  III.'s  reign  the  Early 
English  style  had  practically  passed  away.  The 
lancets  had  grouped  themselves  together  and  become 
the  lights  of  a  window  ;  the  walls  between  them  had 
diminished  in  size  and  become  mullions ;  and  the  space 
over  them  had  changed  from  distinct  and  separate 
circles  or  piercings  to  geometrical  tracery,  all  included 
under  one  containing  arch.  Windows  had  now 
become  vast  fields  of  light,  instead  of,  as  it  were, 
apertures  cut  through  the  wall,  and  this  resulted 
naturally  in  the  proper  working  out  of  the  pointed 
system  of  ground-plan,  in  which  the  masses  of 
masonry  were  placed  exactly  as  they  were  wanted  as 
piers  and  buttresses  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
weights  and  resisting  pressure,  while  the  intervening 
spaces  became  lighter  and  slighter  in  construction. 
In  France  this  was  carried  sometimes  to  an  excess  by 
over-daring,  as  in  the  choir  of  Beauvais  Cathedral, 
where,  in  an  attempt  to  outrival  Amiens  choir,  this 

252 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE 

daring  defeated  itself,  and  in  the  result  was  the  partial 
destruction  of  the  work,  and  a  permanent  patching  up 
and  injury  to  the  original  design.  At  Leon  Cathe- 
dral in  Spain  (of  French  design  like  Burgos  and 
Toledo)  the  attempt  was  made  to  reduce  the  piers  and 
buttresses  to  a  minimum  ;  and  it  is  amazing  to  see  the 
extreme  slightness  of  the  structure,  the  idea  being  to 
get,  as  it  were,  walls  of  stained  glass  with  the  least 
possible  amount  of  stonework  between.  This,  how- 
ever, partially  failed,  and  the  outer  lights  of  the  great 
windows  and  of  the  triforia  had  to  be  filled  in.*  Yet 
after  all  the  design  was  practicable,  and  it  proved  to 
have  failed  only  through  faulty  work  in  carrying  it 
out ;  for  the  south  transept  was  rebuilt  thirty-five 
years  ago,  and  the  original  design  executed  in  its 
entirety  from  plans  furnished  by  the  talented  architect 
Don  Juan  de  Madrazo.  In  England,  however,  there 
was  always  a  more  sober  spirit  in  design,  and  build- 
ings carried  out  in  the  Decorated  period  show  an 
ample  and  satisfying  reserve  of  strength,  though 
indeed  we  could  sometimes  wish  that  their  architects 
had  not  felt  so  fettered  by  the  proportions  of  their 
predecessor's  work.  The  beautiful  Angel  Choir  of 
Lincoln  Cathedral  is  an  illustration  of  this. 

The  duration  of  the  Decorated  style  was  more  than 
a  hundred  years,  including  the  transitional  stage  from 
Early  English.  It  began  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III. 
and  lasted  till  about  the  end  of  that  of  Edward  III. 
However,  even  before  that  time  another  change  was 
creeping  on,  quickly  in  one  place,  slowly  in  another. 

*  The  same  expedient  had  to  be  resorted  to  in  the  south-western 
French  Cathedral  of  Rodez. 

253 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

We  do  not,  as  a  rule,  find  that  there  is  an  essential 
difference  between  the  ground-plan  of  a  Decorated 
building  and  one  of  the  preceding  style,  the  conditions 
of  the  design  being  the  same  in  each  until  the  style 
grew  later,  when  greater  spaciousness  was  aimed  at. 
The  columns  then  became  smaller,  were  gathered  up 
into  elegant  clusters  of  shafts,  and  were  placed  at 
wider  intervals,  as  in  the  nave  of  York  Minster  and  in 
some  of  the  great  parish  or  conventual  churches,  such 
as  those  of  Holy  Trinity  at  Hull,  Boston,  Newark, 
and  the  Augustinian  (now  the  Dutch  Church)  in 
Austin  Friars  near  Broad  Street,  London — a  most 
admirable  example  of  what  a  great  town  church  should 
be,  and  upon  which  Richard  Carpenter,  the  distin- 
guished architect  of  the  Early  Victorian  era,  modelled 
his  fine  churches,  St  Mary  Magdalene,  Minister 
vSquare,  London,  and  the  Subdeanery  Church  at 
Chichester. 

The  English,  after  Norman  times,  seem  to  have 
determined  on  square  east  ends  for  their  churches ; 
but  occasionally  an  apsidal  plan  is  found,  as  in  the 
Lady  Chapels  of  Lichfield  and  Wells  Cathedrals, 
Madeley  Church,  Herefordshire,  Little  Maplestead, 
Essex,  and  Bay  ham  Abbey.  At  Tewkesbury  when 
the  upper  parts  of  the  Norman  choir,  and  the  aisles 
with  their  diverging  chapels  were  rebuilt,  the  columns 
of  the  choir  and  apse  arches  were  retained,  but 
heightened  and  made  to  carry  arches  of  the  Decorated 
period,  the  shape  of  the  clerestory  of  the  apse  being 
made  angular  instead  of  semicircular. 

There  was  at  this  period  a  general  rebuilding  of 
Lady  Chapels  on  a  grander  scale  than  formerly,  and 

254 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE 

an  enlargement  of  the  space  reserved  for  the  shrines 
of  local  saints.  At  Lichfield  the  great  shrine  of 
St  Chad  stood  between  the  high  altar  and  the  Lady 
Chapel  in  the  two  bays  forming  the  retro-choir,  as  in 
the  earlier  examples  of  Westminster  and  Ely.  At 
Hereford  the  Cantilupe  Shrine  was  placed  in  the 
north  transept,  which  had  been  re-erected  for  its 
reception — a  rather  .unusual  position.  At  Chichester 
the  shrine  of  St  Richard  seems  to  have  been  placed  in 
the  south  transept.  At  Ely,  the  new  Lady  Chapel 
was  built  at  the  north-east  angle  of  the  north  transept, 
a  passage  joining  it  to  the  choir  aisle.  The  earlier 
examples  of  Lady  Chapels,  now  destroyed,  at  Peter- 
borough and  Lincoln,  opened  directly  out  of  the 
transept,  but  were  in  much  the  same  relative  position 
as  at  Ely.  At  Lincoln,  Wells,  Exeter,  York,  St 
Albans,  and  Carlisle,  the  Lady  Chapel  was  an  eastern 
extension,  having  a  retro-choir  or  space  between  it  and 
the  choir  for  the  saint's  shrine.  At  Waltham  it  still 
exists  on  the  south  side  of  the  nave.  In  some 
collegiate  churches,  such  as  that  at  Higham  Ferrers, 
the  Lady  Chapel  was  built  on  the  north  side,  as  also 
it  was  at  Osney,  St  Frideswide's,  Oxford,  Wymond- 
ham  Abbey,  and  Arundel  Church. 

Although  it  would  be  much  beyond  the  province 
of  this  chapter  to  consider  the  movement  in  France 
which  changed  the  early  pointed  architecture  into 
"geometrical,"  and  then  into  the  later  Decorated 
style,  it  may  be  remarked  in  passing  that  the  choir 
and  transepts  of  Le  Mans  Cathedral  date  from  1217 
to  1254 ;  that  the  choir  of  Amiens  Cathedral  was  con- 
secrated in  1244  and  completed  in  1288  ;  that  the  choir 

255 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

of  Beauvais  was  built  between  1225  and  1270,  and 
rebuilt  and  repaired  up  to  1324;  that  the  Sainte 
Chapelle  in  Paris  was  rising  between  1245  and  J257. 
All  these  buildings  are  earlier  in  their  development 
than  English  buildings  of  the  geometrical  style 
corresponding  in  design  with  them.  It  would  be  too 
long  a  question  to  consider  how  far  our  English  work 
was  derived  from  the  earlier  French  work.  Doubtless 
it  was  influenced  by  it,  when  we  bear  in  mind  the  close 
connection  which  then  existed  between  England  and 
the  northern  and  western  provinces  of  France,  more 
so  in  the  earlier  phase  of  the  English  Decorated  than 
in  the  later. 

There  are  some  beautiful  examples  of  the  French 
Decorated  of  the  fourteenth  century  in  the  exquisite 
chapels  added  to  the  early  pointed  nave  aisles  of 
Coutances  Cathedral  (they  probably  had  their 
influences) ;  so  also  the  Lady  Chapel  of  Rouen 
Cathedral  (the  longest  in  France),  the  earlier  work  of 
the  Church  of  St  Ouen,  and  the  choirs  of  Evreux  and 
Seez  Cathedrals.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  the 
influence  of  Early  English  Decorated  work  is  remark- 
ably English  in  the  province  of  Brittany.  The 
cathedral  at  Dol  *  has  a  square  east  end,  and  its  details 
and  tracery  are  peculiarly  English  in  character ;  so 
also  the  cathedral  at  St  Pol  de  Leon,  and  the  remark- 
able church  of  "the  Kreisker  "  in  that  city,  all  so 
English  in  plan  and  details  that  it  is  very  evident  that 
an  Englishman  designed  them.  Yet  in  later  Decorated 

*  Similar  in  character  is  the  square  east  end  of  St  Julian  at 
Tours  in  the  adjacent  Touraine.  Brittany  long  formed  the 
province  of  the  Archbishop  of  Tours. 

2.56 


THE   DECORATED    STYLE 

times  the  English  took  their  own  line,  and  the  style 
advanced  into  the  magnificent  works  of  the  Per- 
pendicular period,  whilst  the  French  lost  itself  in  the 
debasement  of  the  florid  Flamboyant  style. 

Before  proceeding  any  further  with  notices  of 
buildings  belonging  to  this  most  glorious  period  of 
our  church-building  history,  I  will  capitulate  the  lead- 
ing characteristics  of  the  style  of  architecture  prevalent 
in  England  during  the  second  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century  and  the  first  half  of  the  succeeding  one. 

The  column  of  this  epoch  presents  much  variety  of 
contour.  Its  archetypes  may  be  selected  from  those 
in  Exeter  Cathedral,  the  presbytery  of  Winchester 
Cathedral,  and  the  nave  of  Bridlington  Priory, 
Yorkshire. 

In  the  choir  of  Exeter  Cathedral  we  have  a  massive 
diamond-shaped  pier  of  Purbeck  marble,  showing  on 
section  a  figure  of  sixteen  foliations,  and  in  elevation 
one  of  the  same  number  of  amalgamated  shafts  with 
simply  moulded  capitals  and  well-proportioned  bases. 
It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  although  Exeter 
Cathedral  was  in  progress,  roughly  speaking,  for  a 
century  and  a  half  (1258-1390),  during  which  great 
changes  were  taking  place  in  form  and  detail,  the 
same  type  of  column  should  have  been  adhered  to  from 
the  chapels  behind  the  high  altar  to  the  west  wall  of 
the  nave. 

In  the  presbytery  of  Winchester  Cathedral  (i.e.  the 
four  bays  east  of  the  central  tower)  the  piers  assume 
the  same  contour  as  those  at  Exeter,  except  that  here 
the  number  of  amalgamated  shafts  is  just  half.  Both 
these  columns  and  the  arches  which  they  carry  at 

257  R 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Winchester  are  beautiful  examples  of  early  fourteenth- 
century  work  (c.  1320)  and  may  be  regarded  as  the 
first  instalment  of  those  great  works  which  were 
almost  completely  to  transform  a  Norman  interior  into 
one  of  Perpendicular  character. 

The  Bridlington  columns  assume  much  the  same 
outline  as  those  just  described.  Here  they  are  formed 
of  twelve  amalgamated  shafts,  those  at  the  cardinal 
points  being  thicker  than  the  four  intermediate  pairs. 
The  capitals,  like  those  at  Exeter  and  Winchester, 
are  simply  moulded ;  and  of  the  same  type  though 
bolder  are  those  of  the  eight  amalgamated  shafts 
composing  the  columns  in  St  Wolfran's,  Grantham, 
in  the  procession  path  round  the  choir  at  Tewkesbury, 
and  at  Tintern  Abbey.  The  last-named  would  appear 
to  have  formed  the  model  for  those  in  St  Alban's, 
Holborn,  built  from  Butterfield's  designs  in  1861-3. 
The  decorated  columns  in  five  of  the  bays  on  the 
south  side  of  St  Alban's  Cathedral  have  four  shafts 
engaged  on  the  cardinal  sides  of  a  polygonal  nucleus, 
and  diifer  but  little  from  the  Early  English  ones  of  the 
four  adjacent  bays.  In  the  nave  of  Dorchester  Abbey, 
Oxfordshire,  we  have  eight  clustered  shafts  with  a 
narrow  space  between  each,  and  with  small  plainly 
moulded  caps — perfect  types  of  their  age  and  class. 

Then  in  the  choirs  of  Carlisle  Cathedral  and  Selby 
Abbey  we  have  eight  shafts,  but  in  these  instances 
amalgamated,  and  with  capitals  carved  in  natural 
foliage.  The  York  Minster  choir  columns  (very  late 
in  the  style)  also  partake  of  this  type,  but  a  small 
space  is  left  between  the  shafts  giving  a  glimpse  of 
the  nucleus. 

258 


THE     NAVE    ARCADE,     ST.     ALBAN  S.     HOI. BORN. 


To  face  p.  258. 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE 

In  the  choir  of  Holy  Trinity,  Hull — externally  a 
valuable  instance  of  the  use  of  red  brick  in  the 
fourteenth  century — are  columns  of  much  grace 
composed  of  an  octagonal  nucleus  having  its  obtuse 
sides  slightly  curved  and  a  slender  shaft  attached  to 
each  cardinal  side.  A  similarly  planned  column  is  used 
in  the  long  choir  of  St  Mary  Magdalene's,  Newark. 
St  Botolph's,  Boston,  has  piers  of  this  description, 
also  St  Margaret's,  Leicester;  Howden,  Yorkshire; 
Melton  Mowbray,  Leicestershire ;  Hingham  and 
Tunstead,  Norfolk;  and  Austin  Friars,  London. 

The  tall  plain  octagonal  column  is  seen  to  advantage 
in  those  two  bays  behind  the  reredos  of  St  Albans 
Cathedral,  which  connect  the  choir  with  the  Lady 
Chapel.  They  are  also  used  to  support  the  three 
arches  under  the  window  of  the  gable  end  of  the  choir, 
thus  reproducing  the  Early  English  arrangement  of 
Salisbury  in  Decorated  times.  In  parish  churches 
the  low  octagonal  column  is  often  used  alternately  with 
a  clustered  one  of  more  complex  form.  Butterfield 
reproduced  this  system  in  the  nave  of  his  stately  and 
abnormal  Church  of  St  Matthias,  Stoke  Newington ; 
and  Scott  in  St  Mary's,  Kensington.  In  its  tall  form 
the  octagonal  column  is  used  alone,  good  examples 
occurring  in  some  of  the  churches  in  the  north-western 
district  of  Norfolk. 

Sometimes,  as  at  Chacombe,  Northants,  the 
octagonal  shaft  has  the  capital  simply  moulded  in  the 
form  of  a  quatrefoil ;  at  Dunchurch,  Warwickshire, 
the  same  shaped  shaft  has  a  small  flower  at  each  angle 
of  the  bell  of  its  capital,  with  the  further  embellish- 
ment of  a  sort  of  embattled  cresting.  In  the  later 

259 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

stages  of  the  style,  the  shafts  are  filleted,  that  is  to  say 
a  slightly  projecting  strip  of  masonry  is  carried  from 
capital  to  base.  Several  of  the  piers  carrying  the  arches 
in  the  Early  English  choir  of  Southwell  Cathedral 
have  their  shafts  filleted,  indicating  that  these  columns 
may  have  been  rebuilt  in  the  later  Decorated  epoch. 

We  occasionally  find  in  arcades  of  this  period, 
especially  during  its  latter  part,  the  mouldings  of  the 
arches  subsiding  into  an  octagonal  column  without 
the  intervention  of  a  capital,  as  in  the  two  arches  at 
the  east  end  of  Exeter  Cathedral,  and  throughout  the 
nave  and  choir  of  that  at  Newcastle — a  building  which 
looks  as  such  churches  in  Targe  merchant  towns  often 
do  look — as  if  tEe  founders  wished  to  get  the  greatest 
possible  room  out  of  the  least  possible  money.  In  the 
nave  arcades  of  St  Asaph  Cathedral,  and  in  those  of 
the  churches  of  Monks  Kirby  and  Ratley,  Warwick- 
shire ;  of  Cropredy,  Oxfordshire  ;  and  of  Blakesley  and 
Charwelton,  Northants,  the  arch  mouldings  are 
continued  down  to  the  bases  of  the  piers — a  practice 
very  common  in  large  churches  in  Belgium  of  this 
period,  as,  for  instance,  Notre-Dame  at  Antwerp,  St 
Pierre  at  Louvain,  St  Germain  at  Tirlemont,  St 
Waudru  at  Mons,  and  the  great  Abbey  Church  of 
St  Hubert  in  Luxembourg.  In  his  two  very  striking 
London  churches  of  St  Agnes,  Kennington  Park  Road, 
and  All  Hallows',  Southwark  (1874-1880),  the  late 
Mr  Gilbert  Scott  introduced  this  kind  of  arcading, 
then  a  novelty  in  ecclesiastical  design ;  and  more 
recently,  Mr  Burke  Downing,  in  his  imposing  Church 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  Clapham,  and  Mr  Bodley  in 
St  Mary  of  Eton,  Hackney,  Wick. 

260 


TROVES    CATHEDRAL. 

(Fourteenth-Century   French  arcades.) 


Tc  face  p.  260. 


ST.     ASAPH    CATHEDRAL. 
(Fourteenlh-Ontury    Ivn^li-h    arr:i:l' 


THE   DECORATED    STYLE 

Vaulting  became  more  elaborate  by  the  addition  of 
intermediate  ribs  and  ridge-ribs  (as  at  Exeter,  Lich- 
field,  Worcester,  Pershore,  and  Westminster)  and, 
towards  the  end  of  the  period  the  '  lierne  '  —an 
apparently  intricate  but  really  simple  system  of 
vaulting  came  into  use,  as  at  Tewkesbury.  The 
mouldings  of  windows  were  elaborated  and  sub- 
divided, the  early  shafted  mullions  gradually  changing 
in  character  till  the  shafts  became  identical  with  the 
tracery  mouldings,  though  they  frequently  retained 
their  carved  capitals  and  bases.  The  subdivisions 
of  the  mouldings  of  the  mullion  are  usually  very 
beautifully  managed,  and  are  most  effective  in 
leading  the  eye  to  appreciate  the  principle  of  design 
of  even  the  most  elaborate  flowing  tracery.  There 
are  so  many  varieties  of  tracery  peculiar  to  certain 
districts  that  it  is  possible  to  touch  but  a  few  of 
them. 

In  Northamptonshire  and  Lincolnshire  a  common 
type  is  the  window  of  two,  three,  or  four  compartments 
with  simple  chamfered  or  hollowed  mullions,  from 
each  of  which  starts  a  curve  identical  with  the  window 
arch.  These  intersect  each  other,  and  each  of  the 
spaces  is  filled  with  very  delicate  geometrical  soffit 
cusping,  forming  a  truly  charming  type  of  window. 
Another  type,  of  which  there  are  fine  examples  in  the 
nave  aisle  windows  of  Lichfield  Cathedral,  is  more 
common,  viz.  a  three-light  window,  the  subdivisions 
being  simple  lancets  supporting  three  circles  cusped 
with  soffit  cusping.  The  same  treatment  is  found  in 
windows  of  more  lights  than  three.  Many  windows 
of  both  these  types  have  suffered  from  wanton  injury 

261 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

by  country  glaziers ;  the  delicate  cuspings  have  been 
cut  out,  leaving  only  the  larger  mouldings  of  the 
intersecting  tracery  or  of  the  circles.  It  has  been 
stated  that  these  empty  circles  are  really  examples  of 
an  earlier  stage  in  the  growth  of  tracery,  but  I  much 
doubt  it,  as  in  almost  every  example  of  the  kind  which 
I  have  examined,  it  is  clear  that  the  soffit-cusped 
tracery  had  existed  and  had  been  cut  out.  Another 
charming  style  of  window  tracery  is  that  known  as 
'  reticulated."  It  is  venT  elaborate  in  effect,  but  is 
simply  composed  of  a  repetition  of  circles  ogeed  into 
each  other,  and  producing  a  net-like  effect,  whence  the 
name,  which  is  derived  from  "  reta,"  a  net.  Elegant 
examples  of  this  reticulated  tracery  are — the  east 
window  of  St  Lucy's  Chapel  in  Oxford  Cathedral, 
the  west  window  of  Ludlow  Church,  Salop,  and  the 
north  transept  window  of  Milton  Abbey,  Dorset. 
Lesser  illustrations  are  in  the  aisles  of  Llandaff 
Cathedral ;  the  clerestory  of  the  choir,  Carlisle 
Cathedral;  St  Mary  Magdalene's,  Newark;  the  west 
window  of  Dartford  Church,  Kent;  the  south  tran- 
sept window  of  Great  Berkhamsted  Church,  Herts; 
and  the  east  windows  of  Spilsby  Church,  Lincolnshire  ; 
Highain  Ferrers,  Northants ;  St  Helen's,  York;  and 
St  Oswald's,  Durham. 

In  Kent,  and  in  some  parts  of  Sussex,  a  most 
beautiful  and  peculiar  type  of  tracery  is  found,  notably, 
i:i  the  choir  of  Winchelsea  Church,  in  St  Anselm's 
Chapel,  in  Canterbury  Cathedral,  and  in  Chartham 
Church  near  Ashford.  The  window  opening  to  the 
cloister-garth  of  Westminster  Abbey  (opposite  the 
entrance  to  the  chapter-house)  is  of  this  style. 

262 


THE   DECORATED    STYLE 

In  Kent  and  Sussex  we  find  most  charming  types  of 
the  "flowing  Decorated"  tracery.  At  Hawkhurst 
Church,  for  instance,  and  in  the  chancel  of  the 
beautiful  collegiate  church  at  Etchingham  there  are 
examples  well  worthy  of  study.  Traceried  windows 
of  this  period  (the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth  century) 
are  often  found  with  flat  or  slightly  curved  heads,  as 
for  instance  at  Over  in  Cambridgeshire,  Dorchester 
in  Oxfordshire,  Sutterton  in  Lincolnshire,  and  Brailes 
in  Warwickshire ;  but  in  all  these — a  few  out  of  count- 
less examples — no  two  are  alike.  Kent  is  particularly 
rich  in  this  class  of  window. 

In  Northamptonshire,  as  at  Ringstead  Church, 
special  types  of  flowing  tracery  are  found ;  but  it  is  in 
Lincolnshire  perhaps  that  this  style  developed  in  its 
greatest  beauty.  The  population  and  wealth  of  that 
county  produced  large  and  costly  churches,  completed 
with  the  most  refined  detail — such  churches  as  those 
of  Holbeach,  Ewerby,  Sleaford,  Heckington,  Framp- 
ton,  Boston,  Threckingham,  Donnington,  Gedney,  to 
name  but  a  few  of  a  glorious  series  either  lining  the 
great  road  from  Sleaford  to  King's  Lynn,  or  lying  a 
short  distance  from  it  on  either  hand.*  To  the 


*  Several  of  these  churches  are  included  in  Bowman  and 
Crowther's  "  Churches  of  the  Middle  Ages  " — a  large  and  sump- 
tuous work,  illustrating  well-selected  specimens  of  the  Early  Eng- 
lish and  Decorated  structures,  together  with  a  few  of  the  best 
Perpendicular  examples.  At  the  time  of  the  publication  of  this 
book  the  art  of  lithography  had  much  improved  (1846),  and  was 
admirably  adapted  for  illustrations  of  architecture  on  a  large 
scale,  especially  when  it  was  desired,  as  in  this  case,  to  publish 
perspective  views  of  an  artistic  character  in  the  same  volume  with 
plans,  elevations,  and  studies  of  detail. 

263 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

student  of  moderately  sized  parish  churches,  abound- 
ing in  detail  of  the  best  and  most  refined  description, 
these  buildings  may  be  especially  recommended. 
Then  there  are  St  Mary's,  Beverley,  the  choir  of  Selby 
Abbey,  Guisborough  Abbey,  the  exquisite  but  alas 
partially  ruined  church  of  Howden,  and  that  "  Queen 
of  Holderness  ' ' — Patrington — all  in  the  neighbouring 
county  of  Yorkshire,  and  showing  what  capabilities 
there  were  in  the  style  when  worked  by  the  master 
minds  of  the  day. 

As  a  model  of  the  geometrical  phase  of  Decorated 
tracery  it  would  be  difficult  to  point  to  a  more  perfect 
one  than  the  east  window  of  the  choir  of  Ripon 
Cathedral  (1288-1300).  A  singular,  nay,  unique 
window  is  the  eastern  one  of  Dorchester  Abbey  in 
Oxfordshire.  It  has  six  lights  divided  into  two 
windows  of  three  lights  each  by  a  buttress,  at  the  apex 
of  which  is  a  large  traceried  circle  filling  the  head  of 
the  enclosing  arch.  The  two  sub-windows  have  no 
mullions,  but  are  entirely  filled  with  tracery  formed 
by  variously  outlined  figures.  This  window,  having 
suffered  serious  mutilation,  was  restored  early  in  the 
'fifties  by  the  Oxford  Architectural  Society,  under  the 
direction  of  Butterfield. 

Examples  of  tracery  produced  during  this  golden 
age  of  English  architecture  crowd  so  thickly  upon  us 
that,  however  tempting  it  may  be,  it  is  impossible  to 
give  a  catalogue  raisonnee  of  even  a  tithe  of  them. 
Several,  however,  of  more  than  ordinary  interest  and 
importance  demand  attention.  One  is  the  great  east 
window  of  Temple  Balsall  Church,  Warwickshire, 
probably  well  known  on  account  of  the  superlative 

264 


THE   DECORATED    STYLE 

excellence  of  its  window  tracery.  Here  we  have  a 
large  window  of  five  cinquef oiled  lights,  the  comprising 
arch  of  which  encloses  another  arch  spanning  the  three 
central  lights.  These  support  three  plain  circlets 
forming  the  tracery  of  the  inner  arch,  while  in  the 
spaces  formed  by  the  two  arches  over  the  two  exterior 
lights  are  similar  circlets.  This  window  at  Temple 
Balsall  would  appear  to  have  been  a  favourite  model 
with  modern  architects  of  distinction.  Butterfield 
adopted  it  with  some  modifications  for  the  east  window 
of  St  Matthias',  Stoke  Newington,  but  Bodley  and 
White  transferred  it  much  more  completely  to  their 
churches  of  All  Saints,  Cambridge  (1865),  and  All 
Saints,  Kensington  Park  (1852). 

The  other  window  remarkable  for  the  singularity 
of  its  tracery  is  the  eastern  one  of  Mildenhall  Church, 
Suffolk.  Here  we  have  a  window  of  seven  lights. 
The  five  central  ones  are  confined,  as  at  Temple 
Balsall,  within  a  pointed  arch,  and  the  space  within 
their  encompassing  arch  is  filled  with  a  vesica  having 
a  border  of  continuous  circlets  and  its  inner  rim 
octof oiled.  This  vesica  touches  the  top  of  the  central 
light  of  the  window  which  is  wider  than  the  rest,  the 
two  adjacent  lights  on  either  side  supporting  a 
spherical  triangle  enriched  with  four  foliations.  The 
outer  light  on  either  side  is  narrower  than  the  others, 
and  the  space  above  it  formed  by  the  main  and  inner 
arches  of  the  window  present  a  series  of  small  foliated 
circles. 

Other  remarkable  examples  of  geometrical 
Decorated  tracery  are  the  windows  in  the  Lady 
Chapel  of  Wells  Cathedral,  where  it  is  formed  by 

265 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

tiers  of  small  spherical  triangles,  cusped,  and 
diminishing  in  number  and  size  as  they  ascend ;  the 
eastern  and  western  ones  of  Tintern  Abbey ;  several 
in  Northfleet  Church,  Kent ;  in  the  choir  aisles  of 
Selby  Abbey  and  the  chapter-house  of  York  Minster ; 
Merton  College  Chapel,  Oxford ;  and  the  basement 
story  of  the  tower  of  Herne  Church,  Kent. 

We  have  few  rose  windows  of  this  period  compar- 
able with  those  of  France  or  those  smaller  ones  so 
common  in  the  Italian  Gothic  work  of  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries,  but  we  may  point  with  pride 
to  those  in  the  transept  fafades  of  Westminster 
Abbey;  to  the  south  transept  rose  of  Lincoln,*  and 
to  a  large  one  (fifteen  feet  diameter)  in  the  eastern  side 
of  the  north  transept  of  St  Mary's,  Cheltenham. 
Small  but  pleasing  specimens  of  circular  windows  with 
rich  tracery  may  be  seen  at  Leek  Church  in  Stafford- 
shire, in  the  western  gable  end  of  Temple  Balsall 
Church ;  in  the  clerestories  of  two  Norfolk  churches— 
Cley-next-the-Sea,  and  Terrington  St  John's — and  at 
the  east  end  of  St  Margaret's,  King's  Lynn,  where  it 
is  filled  with  rectilinear  tracery. 

The  windows  in  the  Lady  Chapel  of  Ottery  St 
Mary  Church,  Devonshire,  are  good  specimens  of  a 
not  very  common  type.  The  arches  of  the  side 
windows  are  acutely  pointed  and  enclose  three  foliated 
lights  reaching  to  the  head  of  the  window.  The 
eastern  window  has  eight  such  lights  within  a  very 
wide  arch,  the  outermost  one  on  either  hand  being 
narrower  than  the  rest. 

*  The  delicate  character  of  the  tracery   in   this  rose  at   Lincoln 
reminded  1'ujjin  of  the  U'JK*  of  a  leaf. 

266 


EXETER    CATHEDRAL. 

(Studies  of  window   tracery.) 


To  fare  p.  266. 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE 

Curvilinear  tracery  reached  its  highest  excellence 
towards  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  in  the 
east  windows  of  Carlisle  and  Wells  Cathedrals,  Selby 
Abbey,  and  St  Mary's,  Shrewsbury;  and  in  the 
western  ones  of  Durham  and  York. 

In  the  chancel  of  Nantwich  Church,  Cheshire,  the 
south  transepts  of  Chester  and  Chichester  Cathedrals, 
there  is  much  beautiful  tracery  of  the  same  kind ; 
and  at  the  east  end  of  Chaddesley-Corbet  Church, 
Worcestershire,  is  a  noble  five-light  window  with 
skilfully  disposed  tracery  exhibiting  a  mixture  of  the 
geometrical  and  curvilinear  varieties  (see  illustration 
p.  274).  The  east  window  of  Wellingborough  Church, 
Northants,  is  also  a  fine  illustration  of  the  mingling 
of  the  two  forms  of  Decorated  tracery. 

I  cannot  leave  the  subject  of  Decorated  tracery 
without  alluding  to  the  windows  in  the  south  aisle  of 
the  nave  at  Gloucester,  which  was  almost  entirely 
rebuilt  during  the  abbacy  of  John  Thokey  (1306-29). 
The  tracery  of  these  seven  windows  seems  with  its  stiff 
mullions  enclosing  trefoils,  and  crossing  one  another 
at  right  angles,  to  foreshadow  that  complete,  sudden, 
and  unprecedented  change  in  the  former  history  of 
English  pointed  architecture  which  took  place  in  the 
west  of  England  about  the  same  time  that  the  archi- 
tecture of  the  Continent  had  begun  to  deviate  into  the 
less  pure  forms  of  the  Flamboyant.  At  the  very 
moment  when  in  other  parts  of  the  country  the  forms 
of  window  tracery  began  to  be  most  flowing  and 
graceful,  when  the  risk  was  apparently  an  excess  of 
riot  similar  to  what  was  beginning  to  prevail  abroad, 
the  whole  spirit  of  our  national  architecture  changed. 

267 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

A  new  style  seemed  to  leap  into  life  at  once,  of  which 
the  leading  characteristic  was  the  prevalence  of  vertical 
lines,  and  it  was  at  this  juncture  that  an  event 
happened  which  was  destined  to  almost  completely 
transform  this  simplest  and  severest  of  Norman  abbeys 
into  one  of  the  most  florid  and  sumptuous.  This  was 
the  murder  of  that  unfortunate  King,  Edward  II.,  in 
Berkeley  Castle,  2ist  September,  1327,  the  conse- 
quences of  which,  so  far  as  Gloucester  Abbey  was 
concerned,  entailed  an  almost  entire  reclothing  of  the 
church,  at  least  externally. 

Somewhat  analagaus  to  these  windows  in  the  south 
aisle  of  Gloucester  Cathedral  is  one  in  Stanton  St 
John  Church,  Oxfordshire.  It  has  three  lights,  the 
triangular  heads  of  which  are  prolonged  crosswise  in 
the  head  of  the  window  so  as  to  produce  three  diamond- 
shaped  compartments  of  tracery,  the  stiffness  of  which 
is  relieved  by  foliation.  Another  abnormal  window 
having  a  sharply  triangular  head  up  to  which  the 
two  inullions  rise  without  any  tracery  whatever  may 
be  seen  in  Uffington  Church,  Berkshire. 

The  belfry  windows  and  other  windows  in  towers  of 
this  period  have  usually  a  distinct  character,  and  are 
frequently  partially  tilled  up  with  stonework,  as  at 
Aynhoe,  Northamptonshire.  Sometimes  they  may 
be  called  twin  windows,  consisting  of  two  single  lights 
coupled  together  with  a  niche  for  an  image  between 
them  as  at  Irthlingborpugh,  Northants,  and  Bloxham, 
Oxon.  The  circular  openings  filled  with  tracery,  but 
not  glazed,  which  are  found  in  some  districts, 
especially  in  Norfolk,  sometimes  occur  in  this  style, 
as  at  Great  Addington,  Northants,  though  they  are 

268 


MODKRN    IOU1.R    AM)    Si'lk'K    ()!••    'II!!'    I  >KC'OR  ATI-:  I ) 
PKRIOI),     S'l'.    CII.I-S',     C. \.MKF.R\VF.I. I.. 
(Sir  ( lilhcri    Scott.    .> 


To  face  p.  26S. 


THE   DECORATED    STYLE 

more  common  in  the  Perpendicular  work  of  Norfolk. 
The  name  of  sound  holes  is  not  very  applicable,  as 
they  are  more  strictly  air  holes ;  they  are  not  used  in 
the  bell-chamber,  but  in  the  ringing  loft,  to  give  air  to 
the  ringers.  Those  belonging  to  the  Decorated  style 
are  generally  smaller  than  in  the  next.  They  are 
sometimes  diamond-shaped,  but  more  frequently 
square.  Triangular  windows  are  likewise  frequently 
used  in  the  points  of  gables  over  large  windows ; 
sometimes  the  common,  straight-sided  triangle,  more 
often  the  spherical  triangle  as  at  Alderbury  in  Shrop- 
shire, and  the  Maison  Dieu,  at  Dover.  In  the  later 
examples  these  openings  are  filled  with  bar-tracery, 
the  same  as  in  the  windows  of  other  forms  and  sizes. 

The  carving  of  this  period  differed  altogether  from 
that  of  the  earlier  style,  inasmuch  as  it  departed  from 
a  conventional  treatment  and  changed  to  a  natural 
representation  of  foliage  and  flowers.  The  beautiful 
and  grand  scroll  forms  of  the  Early  English  foliage 
was  abandoned.  This  is  one  of  the  great  losses  in 
beauty  of  general  form  of  this  period.  The  branches 
were  often  made  crooked,  as  in  Nature;  where  the 
scroll  was  used  they  were  merely  curved  branches.  In 
the  Early  English  the  leaves  and  every  central  line 
and  lobe  of  a  leaf  flowed  tangentially  out  of  the  other 
curves,  but  in  the  early  Decorated  the  leaves  often 
partook  of  the  palm  form,  that  is,  radiating  from  the 
spring  or  foot-stalk  of  the  leaf,  as  in  the  maple,  ivy, 
and  others.  This  arrangement  interfered  very  much 
with  the  continuous  flow  of  the  lines,  and  the  stems 
were  reduced  from  the  scroll  to  the  wave  form.  This 
constitutes  one  of  the  main  differences  between  the 

269 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Early  English  foliage  and  the  Decorated.  The  latter 
was  a  fuller  development  of  natural  leaf  form,  and 
the  stems  became  subordinate.  In  the  later  phase  of 
the  Decorated  style  the  leaf  was  frequently  still 
further  developed,  and  was  made  to  spread  in  intricate 
and  long  strap-like  lobes  over  the  whole  composition, 
and  the  stems  were  in  a  great  measure  abandoned, 
or  at  least  were  made  subservient  to  the  leaves,  as  in 
the  choir  of  York  Minster  (c.  1361-1400). 

In  the  treatment  of  leaves  there  were,  however,  at 
that  time  two  methods  in  practice  by  which  much  of 
the  character  of  the  leaf  was  lost — that  is,  forming  the 
surface  into  undulations  to  gain  light  and  shade,  and 
twisting  and  lengthening  the  leaf  to  suit  every 
position,  so  that  it  often  almost  seems  as  if  the  foliage 
must  have  been  derived  rather  from  some  varieties  of 
marine  vegetation  than  from  trees  or  plants  which 
grew  in  England.  Foliage  was  more  extensively 
employed  as  a  means  of  decoration  than  in  the  Early 
English,  and  it  may  be  admitted  that  through  the 
dexterity  of  the  workmen  there  was  often  too  much 
of  this  ornament,  as  in  the  excessive  use  of  the  ball- 
flower  ;  and  parts  of  a  building  were  adorned  which 
might  with  advantage  be  left  plain  as  in  the  earlier 
style. 

Early  examples  of  carving  executed  during  the  last 
three  decades  of  the  thirteenth  century  are  to  be  seen 
in  the  arches  of  the  western  doorways  of  Lichfield 
Cathedral,  and  in  the  south-eastern  one  in  the  Angel 
Choir  of  Lincoln,  beautiful  alike  in  execution  and 
design,  and  in  the  chapter-house  of  Southwell  Cathe- 
dral. Later,  however,  the  effect  of  the  carving  became 

270 


TOWER    OF    ST.     MARY-OVKR-THE-WATFR,    MUNSTKR. 

(\\VMphalian    (iotliic  of    tin-    Konrtc-i'iiili   Century.) 


7  r>  face   p.    270. 


THE   DECORATED    STYLE 

weaker,  outline  being  less  thought  of  than  richness  of 
execution.  The  carving  on  the  tombs  in  Winchelsea 
Church ;  on  the  Percy  shrine  in  Beverley  Minster ; 
on  the  tomb  of  Aylmer  de  Valence  in  Westminster 
Abbey ;  in  the  small  groups  representing  incidents  in 
the  life  of  St  Etheldreda  in  the  octagon  of  Ely ;  in  the 
arcading  of  the  Lady  Chapel,  or  Trinity  Church  of 
the  same  cathedral;  in  the  corbels  supporting  the 
vaulting-shafts  in  Exeter  Cathedral  * ;  in  the  west 
door  of  the  fine  Decorated  Norfolk  church  of  Cley- 
next-the-Sea ;  in  many  Lincolnshire  churches ;  in  the 
pier  capitals  of  the  choir  of  Carlisle  Cathedral ;  the 
rood-screen  in  St  David's  Cathedral ;  in  the  door 
leading  from  the  eastern  walk  of  the  cloisters  into  the 
nave  of  Norwich  Cathedral ;  and  in  the  octagonal  north 
porch  of  St  Mary,  Redcliffe,  Bristol,  are  examples 
deserving  the  most  careful  study.  A  form  of  decora- 
tion often  employed  for  the  hollows  of  mouldings,  as 
in  the  windows  alluded  to  at  Gloucester,  at  Badgworth 
(Gloucestershire),  Leominster  (Herefordshire),  the 
porch  at  Byfield  (Northants) ,  the  towers  of  Hereford 
Cathedral  and  St  Wolf  ran,  Grantham,  and  the 
pinnacles  round  the  base  of  the  spire  of  St  Mary's, 
Oxford,  was  the  so-called  "  ball-flower  '  —small 
round  balls  opening  and  budding  in  the  centre  and 
placed  at  regular  intervals. 

In  Lincolnshire  and  elsewhere  we  find  rich  square 
bosses  of  foliage  placed  at  intervals  on  the  mouldings, 

*  The  bosses  in  the  roof  of  Exeter  Cathedral  are  even  more 
admirable  in  design  than  these  corbels,  and  far  more  varied 
in  foliage.  The  maple  and  the  oak,  the  filbert  with  its  cluster 
of  nuts,  and  the  vine  with  its  fruit  and  tendrils  could  hardly  be 
reproduced  more  faithfully. 

271 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

and  smaller  ones  in  the  hollows,  both  of  arches  and 
jambs.  Crockets  were  very  bold  and  wavy  in  outline, 
frequently  joined  together  by  continuous  foliage  up 
the  angles  of  the  pinnacles  or  gables.  The  east  ends 
of  Carlisle  Cathedral  and  of  Selby  Abbey,  the  west  end 
of  Howden  Church,  and  the  east  end  of  that  at  Heck- 
ington,  are  particularly  fine  examples  of  the  richness 
lavished  by  the  early  fourteenth-century  men  on  this 
part  of  the  church. 

Richly  diapered  stonework  is  found  in  the  screens 
erected  by  Prior  de  Estria  above  the  stalls  in  the 
choir  of  Canterbury  Cathedral.  At  Westminster  the 
spandrels  of  the  pier  arches  and  triforia  in  the 
portions  erected  under  Henry  III.  and  Edward  I.  are 
similarly  enriched,  as  are  those  of  the  contemporary 
north  transept  of  Hereford  Cathedral,  where  the  arches 
opening  to  the  eastern  aisle  and  those  in  the  triforium 
are  triangular.  At  Lincoln  the  recesses  in  the  choir 
screen,  the  Easter  sepulchre  on  the  north  side  of  the 
high  altar,  and  the  wall  above  the  lavatory  in  the 
choristers'  vestry,  are  enriched  with  this  elegant  mode 
of  decoration,  as  are  the  Easter  sepulchres  at  Hawton 
and  Heckington,  and  the  sedilia  at  Winchelsea. 

The  best  figure  sculpture  of  this  period  (1260-80)  is 
that  at  Lincoln,  viz.  the  beautiful  series  of  angels  in 
the  spandrels  of  the  "  angel  choir  "  of  the  cathedral, 
which  rank  among  the  highest  works  of  English  art ; 
equally  beautiful  though  rather  later  is  the  figure 
sculpture  in  the  "  bishop's  doorway  "  in  the  south 
side  of  this  "  angel  choir,"  and  on  some  of  its 
buttresses. 

The  figures  which  fill  the  niches  in  the  west  front 

272 


(Von.  »ve  Rooo  SCRKC 
•*  OBERWESEL. 


u-  ,«ifo     QARIE    icoii 


DKT.UI.S  01- HIIC    l)l-XC)R.\ri:i)   Pl-KIOl). 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE 

of  Exeter  Cathedral  represent  both  Old  and  New 
Testament  Saints  and  the  Kings  of  England  from 
Saxon  and  Danish  times  up  to  Edward  III.  (in  whose 
reign  they  were  executed),  and  are  bold  and  character- 
istic in  their  attitude  and  treatment,  as  are  those  in 
the  balcony  of  the  Minstrel's  Gallery  on  the  north 
side  of  the  nave. 

In  Lincoln  Cathedral  and  the  Churches  of  Heck- 
ington,  Lincolnshire,  Hawton,  Notts,  and  Patrington, 
Yorkshire,  are  magnificent  Easter  sepulchres,  all 
remarkable  for  the  excellence  of  their  sculpture, 
representing  the  risen  Lord,  with  angels,  and  a  row 
of  sleeping  soldiers  below.  The  sedilia  at  Tewkes- 
bury,  Heckington,  Winchelsea,  Paignton,  Temple 
Balsall,  Dorchester,  Bristol,  Ripon  and  Exeter 
Cathedrals,  JBitton  and  Hawton  are  of  beautiful  detail. 

Of  that  exceedingly  rare  feature  the  sculptured 
reredos,  there  are  two  interesting  ones  belonging  to 
this  period.  In  most  old  English  churches  the  east 
window  or  windows  were  a  few  feet  only  above  the 
altar,  thus  leaving  but  little  room  for  sculptured 
imagery  whether  in  single  figures  or  in  groups. 
One  of  these  Decorated  reredoses  is  in  Bampton 
Church,  Oxfordshire.  It  consists  of  thirteen  arcades 
tref  oiled,  surmounted  by  crocketed  gables,  of  which 
the  central  one  is  wider  than  the  rest,  and  contains  a 
figure  of  our  Lord,  seated  holding  up  both  hands, 
and  showing  the  stigmata.  The  flanking  recesses 
contain  standing  figures  of  the  Apostles  each  with  his 
emblem. 

The  other  example,  also  in  Oxfordshire,  is  at 
Somerton.  It  is  what  is  called  a  Caznacolo  or  repre- 

273  S 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

sentation  of  the  Last  Supper.  Here,  across  the 
whole  width  of  the  wall,  stretches  a  long  draped  table 
at  which  our  Lord  and  ten  of  His  disciples  are  seated, 
each  figure  being  canopied  with  an  arch  of  ogee-form 
trefoiled  and  enriched  with  crockets.*  This  type  of 
reredos  has  often  been  reproduced  in  modern  times, 
that  at  Somerton  would  appear  to  have  supplied  the 
motive  for  the  Ccenacolo  in  St  Martin's,  Coney  Street, 
York. 

When  the  old  parish  church  of  Reigate  was  par- 
tially restored  under  the  direction  of  Henry  Woodyer 
about  1846,  a  late  Decorated  reredos  was  found  behind 
some  woodwork.  It  consists  of  thirteen  niches  richly 
worked  within,  and  surmounted  by  crocketed  canopies 
of  the  ogee  form.  Remains  of  polychromatic  decora- 
tion were  found  on  scraping  off  the  whitewash,  and 
the  present  decoration  is,  as  nearly  as  could  be  dis- 
covered a  restoration  of  the  original.  Other  reredoses 
of  this  period  are  in  the  Lady  Chapels  of  Bristol, 
Exeter  and  Wells  Cathedrals,  in  that  of  Ely  Cathe- 
dral (now  Holy  Trinity  Church),  and  in  that  of 
Patrington  Church,  Yorkshire.  That  such  long 
choirs  as  Chester,  Ely,  Lichfield,  Lincoln,  Rochester 
and  Worcester  were  equipped  with  reredoses  to 
separate  them  from  the  easternly  parts  where  the 
shrines  of  saints  were  located,  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
but  the  ravages  committed  in  our  great  churches  at 
different  times  since  the  Reformation  have  obliterated 
all  traces  of  them. 

*  The  earliest  instance  of  the  revival  of  the  reredos  is  that  in 
Lincoln  Cathedral.  Erected  c.  1770  from  the  designs  of  Jamea 
Essex,  it  is  by  no  means  contemptible  for  its  date. 

274 


T.     Z. 
X    ~ 


A  happier  era  has,  however,  done  much  to  replace 
this  important  feature  in  the  general  view  of  a  lengthy 
choir,  and  it  lives  again  in  Sir  Gilbert  Scott's  graceful 
conceptions  at  Ely,  Lichfield,  Salisbury  and 
Worcester,  and  probably  in  choicer  and  more  sump- 
tuous materials  than  the  mediaeval  builders  had  to 
hand. 

The  period  of  which  this  chapter  treats  was  one  of 
elaborate  tombs  such  as  those  of  Edmund  Crouchback 
and  Aylmer  de  Valence  in  the  choir  of  Westminster. 
These  have  recumbent  effigies  on  an  altar  tomb,  with 
statuettes  on  each  side,  and  over  it  an  arched  canopy 
and  gable,  flanked  by  pinnacles  and  (originally)  with 
figures  on  the  brackets  of  the  gables.  These  are 
executed  in  oak,  and  were  originally  painted  and 
gilded — traces  yet  remain.  This  type  of  design  was 
a  favourite  one  for  tombs  in  stone  as  well  as  in  wood, 
the  tombs  of  Bishop  de  Luda  at  Ely,  of  Bishop 
Langton,  and  others  at  Chichester,  of  Gervase  Alard 
and  others  at  Winchelsea,  the  Percy  tomb  in  Beverley 
Minster,  and  that  of  Archbishop  Greenfield  at  York 
are  of  this  character. 

Stone  rood-lofts  of  this  period  are  still  in  situ  at 
Exeter,  Lincoln,  and  Southwell  Cathedrals,  also  at 
Christchurch  Priory  in  Hampshire.  At  Beverley 
Minster  there  is  an  elaborate  reredos  with  behind  it 
the  substructure  of  the  watching  loft  for  the  shrine 
of  St  John  of  Beverley.  It  takes  the  form  of  a  rood- 
loft  supported  upon  three  pointed  arches  on  clustered 
shafts  with  delicately  foliaged  capitals.  It  is  probable 
that  Pugin  took  this  watching  loft  at  Beverley  as  the 
model  for  that  beautiful  screen  which,  until  of  late 

275 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

years,  separated  the  nave  from  the  choir  of  St  George's 
Cathedral,  Lambeth,  but  which  has  (to  the  great 
detriment  of  the  internal  effect)  been  removed  and 
set  up  at  the  west  end  of  the  church. 

Examples  of  the  woodwork  of  this  period  are  the 
episcopal  thrones  with  their  spiral  canopies  in  the 
cathedrals  of  Exeter  and  St  David's;  the  stalls,  with 
their  backs  and  canopies  at  Chichester,  St  David's, 
Ely,  Winchester ;  and  without  the  backs  and  cano- 
pies at  St  Margaret's,  Kings  Lynn,  where  graceful 
open  parclose  screens  of  this  date  take  their  place. 
Similar  screens  divide  the  chancels  from  their  aisles 
at  St  Mary's,  Eastbourne,  St  Mary's,  Newington, 
and  St  Botolph's,  Northfleet  (a  singularly  beautiful 
example  including  a  trefoil-headed  double  door), 
Leake  Church  (Lincolnshire),  St  John's,  Winchester, 
Shotswell  (Oxon),  Geddington  and  Cropredy  (North- 
ants).  The  screen  at  the  west  end  of  the  south  aisle 
of  Carlisle  Cathedral  is  a  graceful  specimen  of  the 
woodwork  of  this  epoch — the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  to  which  may  also  be  referred  some  of  the 
rood-screens  in  Norfolk,  all  of  which  are  characterised 
by  the  extreme  delicacy  and  beauty  of  their  workman- 
ship. A  valuable  specimen  of  Decorated  woodwork 
is  the  light  open  screen  crossing  the  choir  of  St  David's 
Cathedral  between  the  eastern  arch  of  the  tower  and 
the  presbytery.  As  a  screen  in  this  position,  it  is 
unique,  though  in  mediaeval  times  such  an  additional 
separation  between  the  chorus  and  the  presbytery  was 
not  uncommon.  But  the  gem  perhaps  of  this  kind  of 
ecclesiastical  furniture  is  the  tall  open  screen  of  oak 
which,  dividing  the  refectory  from  the  chapel  in  St 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE 

Mary's  Hospital,  Chichester,  bears  a  very  striking 
resemblance  to  the  stallwork  in  Winchester  Cathe- 
dral. Another  high  wooden  screen  of  this  epoch  is 
in  Stanton  St  John  Church,  Oxfordshire. 

There  was  late  Decorated  stallwork  in  Wells 
Cathedral  until  the  choir  was  restalled  and  refitted 
during  the  restoration  under  Salvin  between  1850  and 
1854,  when  it  was  remorselessly  swept  away  and  the 
present  absurd  arrangement  of  stone  seats  and  stone 
canopies  placed  between  the  first  two  arches  of  the 
choir  was  introduced. 

An  elevation  of  the  choir  of  Wells  Cathedral, 
engraved  in  1823  by  Le  Keux  from  a  drawing  by 
Cattermole  for  Britton's  monograph  on  the  church, 
shows  some  of  this  late  Decorated  stallwork. 

Characteristic  examples  of  high-pitched  roofs  of 
this  period  are  those  at  By  field,  Raunds,  and  Higham 
Ferrers  (Northants),  Wymington  (Beds),  Wysall 
(Notts),  Adderbury  and  Kidlington  (Oxon),  Hasling- 
field  and  Over  (Cambridgeshire),  Winchelsea 
(Sussex),  and  Penshurst  (Kent),  Andover  (Hants), 
Little  Coxwell  and  Sparsholt  (Berks),  Duglinworth 
(Gloucestershire),  and  Cubington  (Warwickshire), 
St  Mary's  (Leicester),  the  transepts  of  Ely  Cathe- 
dral, the  Chapel  of  St  Etheldreda  in  Ely  Place, 
London,  and  that  formerly  in  the  guesten  hall  of  the 
monastic  buildings  attached  to  Worcester  Cathedral, 
but  which  now  covers  the  nave  of  Holy  Trinity,  a 
modern  church  in  that  city.  Often  the  roofs  were 
low  in  pitch,  especially  in  Lincolnshire  and  North- 
amptonshire, with  tie-beams  and  curved  braces  under 
them  simply  moulded.  The  roofs  of  Higham 

277 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Ferrers  Church,  Northamptonshire,  are  examples  of 
this  type.  Frequently  also  the  roofs  of  churches 
ran  through  at  one  level  for  both  chancel  and 
nave ;  sometimes  there  was  no  arch  between  the  twro 
divisions,  as  at  Hawkhurst  and  Higham  Ferrers,  an 
omission  which  became  much  more  common  in  Perpen- 
dicular times,  especially  in  the  eastern  counties. 

There  is  one  cathedral  roof  of  this  period  which,  if 
not  unique,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  valuable. 
I  refer  to  that  covering  the  nave  of  Ely  Cathedral. 
As  originally  constructed  the  roof  of  this  portion  of  the 
cathedral,  as  well  as  the  transepts,  was  finished  inter- 
nally with  a  horizontal  ceiling  from  wall  to  wall,  as 
in  the  transepts  of  Peterborough  and  at  St  Albans 
and  the  choir  of  Romsey  Abbey.  This  was  the  usual 
mode  in  Norman  times  where  no  stone  vault  existed. 
The  external  form  of  this  nave  roof  at  Ely,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  transept  roofs,  appears,  from  the  weather- 
ings still  existing,  to  have  been  truncated.  In  con- 
sequence, however,  of  the  deviation  from  the  original 
plan  made  by  Alan  de  Walsinghain,  when  he  erected 
the  octagonal  lantern  in  lieu  of  the  Norman  tower, 
it  became  necessary  to  reconstruct  the  roof  over  this 
portion  of  the  building,  and  the  result  was  the  high- 
pitched  polygonal  form  which  exists  at  the  present 
day.*  Of  simple  construction,  the  framework  is 
composed  of  rafters,  at  some  distance  above  the  feet  of 
which  are  braces  or  struts  carried  obliquely  from  the 

•  ThU  polygonal  roof  at  Ely  was  reproduced  in  the  little 
Cambridgeshire  church  of  Long  Stanton.  A  striking  modern 
example  of  the  same  typ«  is  that  over  the  nave  of  St  Matthias, 
Stoke  N«wing"ton. 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE 

rafters  on  one  side  to  those  opposite,  and  these  braces 
are  again  connected  by  an  horizonal  collar,  which 
probably  acted  as  a  tie,  thus  forming,  when  seen  from 
below,  a  kind  of  pentagonal  arched  roof.  The 
original  construction  of  this  nave  roof  at  Ely  is  now 
no  longer  visible  from  below,  as  in  1858  Styleman  Le 
Strange  commenced  his  great  work  of  painting  it, 
boards  being  laid  over  the  open  rafters  for  that 
purpose.  Nor  can  it  be  seen  in  the  transepts  where 
the  roofs  are  open  and  are  somewhat  plain  examples 
of  the  hammer-beam,  the  projecting  brackets  having 
figures  of  angels  with  expanded  wings.  A  little  later 
than  the  nave  roof  of  Ely  was  that  of  Romsey  Abbey. 
Here  the  open  timber  roof  had  its  framework  com- 
posed of  a  number  of  low  segmental  arches  at  small 
distances,  connected  by  longitudinal  beams,  the  prin- 
cipal intersections  being  marked  by  bosses.* 

It  is  possible  that  some  of  the  roofs  thus  adduced  as 
examples  of  this  style  may  be  of  an  earlier  or  a 
different  period ;  they  are,  however,  altogether  distinct 
in  their  construction  and  ornamental  accessories  from 
the  numerous  wooden  roofs,  whether  plain  or  rich,  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  and,  where  the  framework  is 
simple,  the  mouldings  of  the  tie-beam  or  collar  will 
frequently  serve  as  a  criterion  of  date. 

Our  most  important  examples  of  wooden  roofs 
in  imitation  of  stone  vaults  are  the  early  Perpendi- 
cular ones  in  the  transepts  of  York  Minster — remark- 

*  This  interesting  old  piece  of  carpentry  is  now  no  more  visible, 
having  been  concealed  by  a  boarded  one  of  commonplace  design 
during  some  restorations.  In  his  "  Architectural  Antiquities," 
Britten  gives  an  engraving  of  the  nave  looking  west  of  Romsey 
Abbey,  showing  the  old  open-raftered  roof. 

379 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

able    illustrations    of    the    "  lierne  '      type    in    this 
material. 

The  cloisters  of  Lincoln  Cathedral  have  very  rich 
wooden  vaults  of  this  period  (1280-1300),  and  there 
is  reason  to  believe,  from  vestiges  remaining  here  and 
there,  that  such  groined  wooden  roofs  were  not  un- 
common, the  corbels  and  springers  being  of  stone, 
although  always  intended  to  be  carried  out  in  wood, 
which  has  either  been  destroyed  or  never  completed. 
We  have  a  remarkable  instance  of  this  in  the  choir 
of  Chester  Cathedral,  which  had  been  prepared  for 
pointed  vaulting  in  the  fourteenth  century.  This  was 
never  carried  out,  flat  roofs  of  a  very  plain  character 
being  substituted.  Upon  the  existing  springers  a 
roof  groined  in  timber  and  plaster  was  given  to  the 
choir  under  the  direction  of  Mr  R.  C.  Hussey,  who 
had  restored  the  Early  English  Lady  Chapel  (which 
had  been  almost  entirely  transformed  into  Perpendi- 
cular) about  sixty  years  ago ;  but  owing  to  its  lines 
not  being  quite  perfect  it  was  regroined  in  oak  when 
more  scholarly  works  of  amelioration  and  embellish- 
ment were  carried  out  between  1873  and  1876  under 
Sir  Gilbert  Scott,  who  had  given  the  nave  the  wooden 
groining  for  which  it  had  so  long  exclaimed,  a  few 
years  before,  on  the  same  principles.* 

The  choir  of  Selby  Abbey  was  groined  like  the 
whole  of  Chester  Cathedral  is  now,  from  the  first, 
viz.  with  a  wooden  vault  on  stone  springers.  This 
roof  was  destroyed  in  the  fire  of  October,  1906,  but 
has  been  rebuilt  exactly  on  the  same  lines. 

Clerestories    are    frequently    found    in    the    larger 

*  As  was  that  of  Ripen   Cathedral   about  the  same  time. 

280 


MODERN  TOWER  AND  SIMKI-:  or  THE  DECORATED 

PERIOD,    HIGHXAM,    GI.OrCHSTI- R. 
(Honry   \Voorlvor,    Arrhilort,    T^O.) 


280. 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE 

churches,  but  they  did  not  become  so  general  or 
reach  so  imposing  a  scale  as  they  did  in  the  next 
period. 

The  finest  spires  are  found  in  Lincolnshire  and 
Northamptonshire,  where  they  are  frequently  set 
inside  a  parapet,  with  rich  cornices  and  corbelling 
under,  while  pinnacles  at  the  angles  of  the  tower 
support  miniature  flying  buttresses  to  the  spire.  The 
spire  lights  were  multiplied  and  were  often  arranged 
on  all  eight  sides  of  the  spire  alternately. 


281 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE    DECORATED    STYLE — continued 

Some  representative  buildings  of  the  period — Merton  College 
Chapel,  Oxford — Lichfield  Cathedral — The  angel  choir  of 
Lincoln — York  Minster — Westminster  Abbey — Exeter,  Win- 
chester and  Worcester  Cathedrals — The  tower  and  spire  of 
Salisbury — The  tower  of  Pershore  Abbey. 

THE  Decorated  period  being  one  of  transition  and  of 
alterations,  it  will  lead  to  a  clearer  understanding  of 
its  gradual  use  and  development  if  we  follow  it  through 
a  few  of  our  cathedrals  and  larger  churches,  and  note 
what  was  done  and  what  changes  took  place  in  them, 
and  what  were  some  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the 
newly  built  works  of  that  time.*  This  it  is  possible 
only  to  do  briefly,  as  each  building  in  itself  would 
arford  matter  sufficient  for  one  chapter. 

Although  we  may  have  to  retrace  our  steps  and  to 
refer  to  earlier  buildings,  we  may  commence  our 
studies  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  as 
representing  a  time  when  the  Decorated  style  had 
emerged  from  its  transitional  stage,  and  was  well 
developed  in  all  its  principles  and  details. 

Our  first  example  is  the  chapel  of  Merton  College, 

*  A  list  of  some  of  the  most  remarkable  cathedrals  and  churche* 
of  this  p«riod  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  the  succeeding  chapter. 

282 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— con tinued 

Oxford,  which  was  begun  in  1274  by  the  founder  of 
the  college,  Walter  de  Merton,  Bishop  of  Rochester 
and  Lord  High  Chancellor  of  England,  the  tower  and 
transepts  belonging  to  a  later  period.  The  choir  is 
one  of  the  earliest  and  most  refined  examples  of  the 
well-developed  Decorated  style,  being  in  plan  a  simple 
parallelogram  very  harmoniously  proportioned.*  The 
side  windows,  seven  in  number,  are  all  of  three  lights 
with  different  designs  of  tracery  to  each,  the  design  of 
the  eastern  window  being  especially  remarkable,  for  it 
has  the  unusual  features  of  straight-sided  gables  and 
pinnacles  introduced  into  the  tracery,  the  head  of 
the  window  enclosing  a  rose  of  great  beauty.  The 
buttresses  along  the  sides  of  the  chapel  and  at  the  east 
end  are  grandly  treated  and  finished  with  gablets  and 
traceried  panels.  Fine  as  the  design  is,  it  would  gain 
much  in  dignity  if  there  were  more  height  between 
the  plinth  and  the  window-sills,  especially  at  the  east 
end ;  but  this  lowness  is  rather  a  peculiarity  of  the 
style  in  England.  In  the  transepts  of  Howden 
Church,  Yorkshire,  there  is  a  great  likeness  to  this 
work  at  Merton  College.  Of  the  coeval  stained  glass 
which  fills  all  the  side  windows  of  this  gem  of  the 

*  In  1330  the  extension  of  this  chapel  westward  took  place  by 
the  addition  of  a  tower  and  transepts,  thus  giving  the  chapel  that 
peculiar  T  form  seen  in  the  later  ones  of  New,  All  Souls,  Magda- 
len and  Wadham.  At  Merton — the  chapel  being  also  the  parish 
church  of  St  John  the  Baptist — a  nave  was  intended,  as  may  be 
seen  by  the  arches  on  the  western  side  of  either  transept.  The 
work  was  carried  on  at  intervals  during  the  fourteenth  century 
as  funds  came  in,  and  in  1424  it  was  dedicated  with  great  pomp 
"  in  honour  of  God,  St  Mary,  and  St  John  the  Baptist,"  all  but 
the  top  of  the  fine  pinnacled  tower  being  then  completed 

283 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Decorated    period    I    shall    have    something    to    say 
later. 

The  west  front  of  Lichfield  Cathedral  begun  in 
1257,  now  tnat  a^  ^e  statuary  *  which  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  Puritans  either  in  the  memorable 
siege  of  1643,  or  in  1651  when  the  lead  was  stripped 
from  the  roof,  is  next  to  that  of  Wells  Cathedral  the 
most  superbly  treated  in  England.  Its  building 
followed  that  of  the  nave,  the  clerestory  of  which  was 
probably  then  being  carried  out  with  triangular  or 
spherical  windows  like  those  in  the  clerestory  of  the 
north  transept  at  Hereford,  and  those  which  appear  to 
form  a  second  story  in  the  aisles  of  Westminster 
Abbey,  but  which  in  reality  light  the  triforium — an 
arrangement  unique  in  this  country. 

The  front  of  Lichfield  is  covered  by  a  series  of 
arcades  with  canopies  now  all  filled  with  statuary  by 
the  most  eminent  sculptors  of  modern  times.  The 
doorways,  beautiful  as  they  are  in  themselves,  are  but 
small,  following  the  usual  English  type.  The  twin 
steeples,  with  their  great  pinnacles  and  staircase 
turrets,  and  the  central  spire  rising  between  them, 
form  a  most  unique  group.  I  shall  have  to  recur  to 
Lichfield,  as  the  rebuilding  of  that  cathedral  was  one 
of  the  greatest  works  of  this  period. 

The  great  beauty  of  the  English  Gothic  style  of  the 
end  of  the  thirteenth  century  is  that  natural  and 
gradual  development  from  the  preceding  one,  perhaps 
nowhere  so  strikingly  illustrated  as  in  the  Angel 
Choir  of  Lincoln  Cathedral.  This  is  a  typical 

*  For  some  account  of  the  restoration  of  this  statuary  «ee  my 
"  Cathedrals  of  England  and  Wales,"  vol.  iii.  p.  33. 

284 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

specimen  of  that  period  of  architecture  which  belongs 
partly  to  the  Early  English  and  partly  to  the 
Decorated  styles,  but  which  is  in  reality  distinct  from 
both,  and  pre-eminently  entitled,  from  the  number 
and  beauty  of  its  examples,  to  separate  classification. 

This  work  is  one  of  the  most  glorious  pieces  of 
architecture  in  England.  The  great  east  window  of 
eight  lights  with  geometrical  tracery,  is  a  most  noble 
one ;  while  the  clerestory  has  windows  of  four  lights, 
and  the  aisles  three-light  windows  of  the  same  style 
of  tracery.  All  are  derived  from  the  earlier  type, 
such  as  that  at  Netley  Abbey  and  Westminster,  but 
are  developed  with  an  increased  richness  and  subor- 
dination of  mouldings  and  cuspings.  In  the  clere- 
story bf  this  Angel  Choir  at  Lincoln  the  circles  form- 
ing the  window  tracery  have  cuspings,  but  the  lancets 
of  the  lights  are  plain.  The  great  east  window  has 
no  cusps  to  its  lights,  but  all  those  in  the  aisles  are 
duly  provided  with  them.  It  seems  strange  that  the 
highest  part  of  the  work  and  the  one  which  would 
have  been  reached  latest  should  evince  a  more  "  tran- 
sitional ' '  character  than  those  in  the  aisles  which 
would  have  been  completed  first. 

In  this  Angel  Choir  we  have  to  regret  that  the 
architects  felt  themselves  restricted  in  their  design 
as  to  height  by  the  Early  English  choir  of  St  Hugh 
which  they  had  to  build  on  to.  The  lowness  of  its 
proportions  is  certainly  a  defect  though  this  is  for- 
gotten in  the  delicate  beauty  of  the  detail.  On  the 
south  side  is  the  "  Bishop's  Doorway  "  one  of  the 
few  sculptured  ones  we  possess  that  can  in  any  way 
be  compared  with  those  of  France ;  it  is  the  doorway 

285 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

which  served  as  the  entrance  to  the  retro-choir,  where 
St  Hugh's  shrine  stood,  and  is  perhaps,  in  its  design, 
its  figure  sculpture,  and  its  carving,  the  most  beau- 
tiful example  in  England  of  its  own  or  any  other 
period. 

The  cost  of  these  great  works  at  Lincoln  was  de- 
frayed by  the  offerings  at  the  principal  shrine  (that 
of  St  Hugh) — a  source  of  income  which  was  often  in 
those  days  made  available  for  vast  undertakings. 
Between  1285  and  1290,  another  of  the  grandest  works 
of  the  Decorated  period  was  begun — the  nave  of  York 
Minster.  The  expenses  were  met,  to  a  great  extent, 
by  the  offerings  of  the  pilgrims  at  the  shrine  of  St 
William,  whose  relics  had  been  translated  in  1284. 
The  Norman  nave  was  completely  pulled  down,  but 
the  Norman  choir  was  left  for  the  present.  Vast  as 
the  dimensions  of  this  nave  at  York  are,  it  cannot  be 
pronounced  a  success.  The  details  of  the  clustered 
piers  and  vaulting  shafts  being  poor  and  clumsy,  and 
the  bases  of  the  piers  seeming  wholly  inadequate  to 
their  huge  superincumbent  masses.  But  its  chief 
defect  is  its  great  width  in  comparison  with  its  length, 
combined  with  the  wide  spacing  of  the  pier  arches, 
which  enables  the  spectator  to  see  through  this  part  of 
the  building  in  every  direction,  and  thus  depriving  it  of 
the  poetry  of  design  found  in  Wells  or  Salisbury. 
The  exterior  of  the  nave  can  only  be  said  to  have  been 
finished  lately  by  the  completion  of  the  pinnacles  and 
the  addition  of  flying  buttresses.  The  building  of 
these  was  abandoned  when  the  architect  found  that  to 
vault  the  nave  in  stone  was  beyond  the  means  of  the 
chapter  or  his  own  courage.  The  expedient  there- 

286 


THE   DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

fore  was  adopted  of  covering  the  nave  with  a  wooden 
roof  in  imitation  of  a  stone  vault.  It  probably  was 
the  first  attempt  of  the  kind,  but  was  apparently 
deemed  so  successful  that  when  the  choir  was  recon- 
structed in  the  second  half  of  the  fourteenth  century 
a  wooden  vault  was  determined  on  from  the  beginning, 
as  no  sufficient  counterpoises  for  a  stone  vault  were 
introduced.  The  windows  throughout  the  nave  of 
York  are,  however,  good  in  design,  and  the  growth  of 
tracery  from  those  in  the  aisles,  through  the  clerestory 
to  the  great  flowing  Decorated  west  window  is  highly 
instructive. 

The  great  west  window,  with  its  flowing  tracery, 
would  probably  be  finished  near  the  close  of  the  works 
in  1345,  and  shows  how  the  style  had  developed,  for 
the  octagonal  chapter-house,  begun  at  the  same  time 
as  the  nave,  has  pronounced  geometrical  tracery  in 
the  noble  five-light  windows,  and  the  roof  groined  in 
wood  like  the  nave.  Later  on  in  the  period  1352-72, 
the  erection  of  the  easternmost  four  bays  of  the  present 
choir  took  place,  the  ancient  Norman  choir  being  left 
standing  until  the  completion  of  this  extension.  The 
window  tracery  being  of  Perpendicular  character,  with 
reminiscences  of  the  flowing  Decorated  type,  this 
portion  of  York  Minster  is  a  valuable  example  of  the 
transition  between  those  two  periods  of  architecture. 

At  the  Abbey  Church  of  Westminster,  Edward  I. 
took  up  the  rebuilding  of  the  Confessor's  Church  at 
the  point  where  Henry  III.  had  stopped;  and  pulling 
down  a  portion  of  the  Norman  nave,  he  built  five  bays 
immediately  westward  of  the  transept  to  contain  the 
choir  fittings.  The  difference  in  style  is  not  very 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

apparent  without  careful  examination,  as  the  general 
design  of  Henry  III.'s  work  was  retained.  The  piers, 
however,  have  eight  instead  of  four  shafts  clustered 
about  their  cylindrical  cores,  half  of  those  shafts  being 
detached  and  the  other  half  forming  portions  of  the 
solid  pier ;  the  arch  mouldings  are  built  of  stones 
alternating  in  colour ;  the  clerestory  windows  have 
wider  splays,  and  the  window  shafts  have  moulded 
instead  of  carved  capitals.  In  the  groining  there  is 
much  greater  richness,  for  there  are  double  the  number 
of  ribs,  besides  a  ridge  rib — i.e.  that  running  the 
entire  length  of  the  roof  at  the  point  of  the  arch — with 
rich  bosses  at  all  the  junctions  of  the  ribs.  The 
filling  in  is  of  chalk,  with  grey  bands  at  intervals,  as 
in  the  earlier  work ;  but  the  filling  in  is  so  arranged 
as  almost  to  produce  the  same  effect — that  of  a  mass 
polygonal  in  plan — as  was  produced  by  the  fan 
groining  of  the  Perpendicular  period.  The  design 
of  the  windows  in  the  aisles  and  clerestory  very  nearly 
resembles  that  of  Henry  III.'s  work. 

The  northern  walk  of  the  cloister  was  carried  up  at 
the  same  time,  and  has  bold  three-light  openings,  with 
arches  filled  with  cusped  tracery. 

It  has  long  been  known,  both  by  history  and  by  the 
architectural  details  that  the  greater  part  of  the  nave  of 
Westminster  Abbey — the  seven  bays  between  the  choir 
screen  and  the  west  end — was  rebuilt  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  although  the  general  style  of  the  five  eastern- 
most bays  (four  of  which  are  occupied  by  the  choir 
screen  and  stalls),  has  been  so  well  followed  that 
casual  observers  are  unconscious  of  the  change  of 
style.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  old 

288 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— con  tinned 

Norman  nave  was  left  standing  until  that  time,  and 
documents  prove  that  workmen  were  employed  to 
remove  it  preparatory  to  the  reconstruction  on  the 
lines  of  the  portion  completed  by  Edward  I.  In  1413 
(the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  V.)  a  royal  com- 
mission was  issued  to  Richard  Whytington  and 
Richard  Harrowden,  monk  of  the  Abbey,  for  carrying 
on  the  work  of  rebuilding  the  old  portion  of  the  nave 
then  standing,  and  the  former — generally  believed  to 
have  been  no  other  than  that  wealthy  merchant,  who 
thrice  became  Lord  Mayor  of  London — was  the 
commissioner  for  the  execution  of  this  work. 

In  the  account  rolls  of  the  Abbey  he  is  called  Richard 
de  Whittington,  whilst  the  other  commissioner  is 
called  only  Richard  Harrowden,  a  monk  of  the  Abbey. 
Entries  are  found  of  the  cost  of  breaking  down  the 
old  walls,  and  considerable  outlay  for  stone,  marble, 
labour,  etc.,  showing  that  the  work  proceeded  vigor- 
ously. From  the  time  of  Henry  V.-VI.  till  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  monastery  the  nave  slowly  progressed, 
the  west  window  being  finished  by  Abbot  Esteney  in 
Henry  VII. 's  time,  and  the  western  towers  left  un- 
finished by  Islip,  the  last  abbot  worthy  of  that  namer 

The  most  remarkable  characteristic  in  these  seven 
bays  of  the  nave  of  Westminster  Abbey  is  their 
continuing  the  general  design  of  the  earlier  portions, 
not  copying  the  details,  as  was  done  in  the  cloister, 
but  applying  details  of  their  own  period  to  the  general 
forms  of  the  preceding  age.  So  that,  to  a  casual 
observer,  the  building  presents  throughout  its 
interior  a  homogenous  appearance.  One  of  the  chief 
differences  is  observable  in  the  window  tracery,  which 

289  T 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

in  the  thirteenth-century  portion  is  a  cusped  circle, 
and  in  that  of  the  fifteenth  a  quatrefoil  without  an 
encircling  rim ;  another  is  the  cessation  of  the  elegant 
diapenvork  in  the  spandrels  of  the  arcades  and  the 
triforium. 

Exeter,  our  most  complete  cathedral  in  the 
Decorated  style,  was  gradually  rebuilt  under  four 
great  bishops — Bronescombe,  Quivil,  Stapledon,  and 
Grandisson — the  works  extending  over  more  than  a 
century.  There  was,  as  usual,  a  Norman  building  at 
first,  which  was  gradually  removed,  excepting  the 
lower  part  of  the  nave  aisle  walls,  and  the  two  grand 
towers.  These  towers  were  subsequently  pierced 
through  to  form  transepts — an  idea  as  fine  as  it  was 
novel.  The  Lady  Chapel  and  the  choir  were  the  first 
portions  undertaken,  and  finally  the  nave,  so  that  we 
have  in  this  cathedral  a  remarkably  interesting  devel- 
opment of  the  Edwardian  style  as  the  work  proceeded 
westward.  But  although  the  tracery  in  the  windows 
of  the  clerestory  and  the  aisles  shows  a  wonderful 
fertility  of  design,  the  whole  of  it  with  three  exceptions 
is  in  the  geometrical  phase  of  the  style. 

There  being  no  central  tower,  the  vault  is  continuous 
from  end  to  end,  and  produces  a  striking  effect. 
There  are  a  number  of  intermediate  ribs  besides  the 
main  ribs  (i.e.  the  diagonal  and  transverse  ribs) ;  but, 
beautiful  though  their  effect  is,  there  is  rather  a  sense 
of  weakness  where  the  numerous  ribs  meet  in  a  heavy 
mass  and  rest  on  slight  clustered  vaulting-shafts. 
This  defect  was  more  successfully  got  over  in  the  days 
when  fan-vaulting  came  in.  The  latest  work  of  the 
rebuilding  of  the  nave  by  Bishop  Grandisson  was  its 

290 


i:\i-:  i  I-:K  t  A TIIKDK  \i,. 

i  I  In-  ( 'hoir,    looking  e;i-t  ) 


To  face  p.   290. 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE—  continued 

west  front  with  the  outer  sculptured  screen,  before 
alluded  to,  stretching  across  its  whole  width  under  the 
west  window.  There  are  three  doorways  in  it,  with 
two  rows  of  canopied  niches  treated  in  the  richest 
manner,  and  covering  the  whole  wall-space.  They 
contain  no  less  than  sixty-five  statues.  I  shall  have 
to  recur  to  this  cathedral  in  respect  of  its  stained  glass 
and  other  details. 

In  1320  the  reconstruction  of  the  Norman  presby- 
tery (the  four  bays  eastward  of  the  central  tower)  of 
Winchester  Cathedral  was  begun,*  and  about  the  same 
time  part  of  the  nave  of  St  Alban's  and  the  choir  of 
Selby  Abbey. f  The  latter,  a  most  beautiful  work  of 
its  period,  was  seriously  damaged  in  a  fire  in  October, 
1906,  but  it  has  happily  been  restored  exactly  on  the 
same  lines. 

The  great  east  window  is  filled  with  rich  curvilinear 
tracery,  which  though  extremely  beautiful  wants  the 
perfect  subordination  which  is  so  satisfactory  in  the 

*  This,  the  first  instalment  of  a  work  by  which  Winchester 
Cathedral  was  almost  completely  transformed  from  a  Norman 
building  into  a  Perpendicular  one,  commenced  with  the  piers  and 
arches.  The  side  aisles  of  this  choir  are  the  undoubted  work 
of  Bishop  Fox,  who  held  the  See  from  1500  to  1528,  so  that  about 
two  centuries  elapsed  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  work, 
and  it  is  not  likely  the  monks  were  destitute  of  a  choir  or  a  roof 
to  their  high  altar  all  this  while.  As  in  many  other  cases  of 
gradual  transformation  they  proceeded  for  their  own  convenience, 
doing  a  bit  at  a  time,  and  taking  down  only  as  much  of  the  old 
buildings  as  they  thought  themselves  able  to  replace  with  the 
funds  in  hand,  or  in  prospect,  at  the  time.  Winchester  Cathedral 
is  perhaps  the  most  wonderful  architectural  palimpsest  iu 
existence. 

t  The  first  five  bays  on  the  south  side  of  St  Alban's  nave  and  the 
first  four  on  the  opposite  one  are  Early  English — the  first  instal- 
ment of  a  design  for  rebuilding  the  Norman  church  of  Abbot  Paul. 

291 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

somewhat  later  example  at  Carlisle — probably  without 
a  single  exception  the  most  beautiful  design  for  window 
tracery  in  the  world.  All  the  parts  are  in  such  just 
harmony,  the  one  with  the  other,  the  whole  is  so 
constructively  appropriate,  and  at  the  same  time  so 
artistically  elegant,  that  it  stands  quite  alone  even 
among  the  windows  of  its  own  age.  (See  illustration, 
p.  4.) 

Let  us  now  return  to  Lichfield.     After  the  building 
of  the  west  front,  the  works  were  resumed  in  1300, 
when  the  new  Lady  Chapel  was  begun;  and  in  1328 
the  rebuilding  of  the  presbytery  and  a  portion  of  the 
choir  was  taken  in  hand.     The  Norman  Cathedral  of 
Lichfield  had  a  choir  of  three  bays  and  an  apse.     The 
first  addition  to  it  was  a  rectangular  chapel  extending 
beyond  the  Norman  apse  for  a  distance  of  about  thirty- 
eight  feet,  and  with  a  slight  deflection  to  the  south. 
The    next    change    involved    the    demolition    of    the 
Norman  choir  and  the  substitution  of  an  Early  English 
one.     It  extended  farther  east,  the  aisles  being  con- 
tinued in  the  same  plane  with  the  east  end,  which  was 
square,  and  arranged  in  four  bays  for  as  man}''  altars. 
Eastwards  the  choir  opened  into  the  i'ia  processionum 
by  two  arches.     This  Early  English  choir  (1200-20), 
the  foundations  of  whose  east  end,  together  with  those 
of  the  Norman  choir,  still  exist  beneath  the  present 
pavement,  embraced  seven  bays  of  the  existing  one. 
Three  bays  of  this  choir  remain,  and  their  columns 
and  arches  are  among  the  most  elegant  and  refined 
examples  of  thirteenth-century  work.     The  next  and 
most   important   alteration   in   the   choir  of   Lichfield 
Cathedral  took  place  during  the  episcopate  of  Bishop 

292 


To  face  p.   292 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— confirmed 

Langton  (1296-1321),  who,  notwithstanding  his 
persecution  at  the  hands  of  Edward  II.,  when  Prince 
of  Wales,  whose  hatred  he  had  incurred  by  boldly 
rebuking  his  vices,  found  time  and  means  to  do  much 
for  his  cathedral. 

Like  Beckington  at  Wells  a  little  later,  Langton  was 
a  great  patron  of  architecture,  constructing  a  magnifi- 
cent new  shrine  for  the  relics  of  St  Chad,  building  a 
new  episcopal  palace  at  Lichfield,  and  repairing  the 
bishop's  castles  and  manor-houses  in  various  parts  of 
the  diocese.  At  the  cathedral  itself  the  portion  asso- 
ciated with  the  name  of  Langton  is  the  graceful  and 
unique  Lady  Chapel  ending  in  a  three-sided  apse,  the 
first  of  a  series  of  works  with  which  he  had  doubtless 
intended  to  supersede  the  Early  English  choir,  and 
to  afford  increased  accommodation  for  the  throngs  of 
pilgrims  to  the  shrine  of  St  Chad.  As  at  Wells,  the 
Lady  Chapel  at  Lichfield  was  begun  away  from  the 
cast  end  of  the  choir,  so  that  the  services  should  be 
uninterrupted  as  long  as  possible.  Roger  de  North- 
burgh,  the  next  bishop  (1322-59)  saw  the  scheme  of 
uniting  the  Lady  Chapel  with  the  choir  through. 
This  work  included  the  demolition  of  the  Early 
English  arcades  as  far  as  the  third  bay  east  of  the 
central  tower,  and  the  rebuilding  of  the  remaining 
portion,  making  the  eastern  limb  of  the  church- 
exclusive  of  the  Lady  Chapel — of  eight  bays  instead  of 
seven,  as  before.  The  triforium  and  clerestor}7  above 
the  three  Early  English  bays,  suffered  to  remain, 
were  rebuilt  to  correspond  with  the  rest,  and  the  whole 
was  vaulted  with  a  noble  continuous  vault,  one  hundred 
and  forty-two  feet  long,  at  one  level  from  the  tower  to 

293 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

the  apse  of  the  Lady  Chapel,  giving  a  magnificent 
effect.*  The  great  windows  of  the  apse,  filled  with 
late  sixteenth-century  Flemish  glass,  purchased  from 
the  dissolved  conventual  house  at  Herckenrode,  near 
Liege,  after  the  French  Revolution,  are  nearly  the  full 
height  of  the  building. 

Great  alterations  were  taking  place  at  Worcester 
during  the  fourteenth  century.  Between  1317  and 
1360,  the  old  Norman  nave  was  gradually  disappearing 
before  the  graceful  Decorated  one  we  now  behold. 
The  north  side  of  the  nave  was  first  taken  in  hand, 
during  the  episcopate  of  Bishop  Cobham  (1317-27). 
For  allied  grace,  solidity,  and  richness  the  columns 
and  arches  on  the  north  side  of  the  nave  of  Worcester 
Cathedral  are,  as  works  of  their  age  and  class, 
unrivalled,  but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  received 
the  admiration  and  attention  which  they  have  always 
seemed  to  me  to  so  justly  merit.  The  arches  are 
richly  moulded,  and  the  columns,  which  are  not  lofty, 
are  composed  of  a  number  of  slender  shafts  with 

*  The  roof  of  the  nave  of  Lichfield  Cathedral  is,  except  in  the 
two  extreme  bays  west,  and  in  one  at  the  east  end,  of  plaster; 
the  stone  groining  and  bosses  having  been  removed,  it  is  said, 
during  the  eighteenth  century,  because  the  weight  of  them  was 
forcing  out  of  the  perpendicular  the  south  side,  as  may  be  seen 
if  the  eye  looks  down  the  interior  of  the  nave.  The  question 
was,  "  Could  the  stone  vaulting  be  replaced  ?  "  The  re-opening 
of  the  cathedral  after  its  restoration  (1858-61)  could  readily  have 
been  postponed  for  the  purpose,  and  Sir  Gilbert  Scott  was  urged 
somewhat  strongly  to  take  the  matter  in  hand.  But  he  refused, 
saying  that  the  fabric  would  not  bear  the  weight  thus  thrown 
on  it  unless  the-  buttresses  on  the  outside  were  materially 
strengthened — a  very  costly  undertaking,  not  to  mention  the  dis- 
figurement of  the  building.  Thus,  somewhat  unwillingly,  the 
roof  was  left  untouched,  the  plaster  being  coloured  so  as  to  match 
the  stone  arouud  it  as  nearly  as  possible. 

294 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— con  tinned 

capitals  of  deeply  cut  leafage  so  arranged  that  they 
form  a  wreath  round  the  top  of  the  pillar.  The 
southern  arcade,  begun  about  1360,  is  not  so  good, 
the  shafts  being  taller,  fewer,  and  more  slender,  and 
the  foliage,  confined  as  it  is  to  each  individual  shaft, 
is  not  continuous  as  on  the  opposite  side.  Both  these 
Decorated  sides  of  the  nave  oif  Worcester  are,  as 
regards  their  arcades,  a  little  loftier  than  the  two 
transitional  bays — a  late  twelfth-century  extension 
westwards  of  the  Norman  nave — but  the  triforium  and 
clerestory  of  the  two  distinct  and  widely  separated 
portions  are  almost  coincident  in  height. 

The  triforium  is  a  singularly  prominent  feature  in 
the  Decorated  bays  of  Worcester  nave.  Singularly, 
because  at  this  time  the  triforium  in  most  places  had 
become  a  very  insignificant  member  in  the  elevation. 
Considering  the  time  it  was  built,  the  nave  triforium 
at  Worcester  is  more  reticent  as  regards  detail  than  the 
Early  English  one  of  the  choir,  which  to  some  extent 
it  resembles  in  arrangement,  and  in  the  manner  in 
which  its  uncusped  arcades  are  walled  up  behind, 
there  being  but  a  narrow  passage  between  the  openings 
and  the  wall.  Richness  appears  to  have  been  sought 
by  the  introduction  of  small  sculptured  figures  into  the 
tympana — once  much  mutilated ;  but  within  living 
memory  admirabty  restored  by  a  local  sculptor  named 
Boulton.  In  the  clerestory,  the  late  Decorated  arrange- 
ment of  the  arcades  follows  that  of  the  two  twelfth- 
century  compartments  very  closely,  the  tall  central 
one  through  which  the  window  appears  having  a 
depressed  head.  The  nave  was  groined  in  1377  by 
Bishop  Wakefield,  throughout ;  but  while  fortunately 

295 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

sparing  us  the  two  transitional  bays  just  alluded  to,  he 
entirely  changed  the  character  of  the  west  front, 
substituting  a  window,  probably  an  early  Perpen- 
dicular one  for  the  original  fenestration.  But  all 
traces  of  Bishop  Wakefield's  window  have  been  lost, 
as  it  was  replaced  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century  by  one  of  debased  character  which, 
during  the  extensive  works  of  restoration  in  progress* 
at  Worcester  between  1854  and  1874,  gave  way  to  the 
present  really  noble  geometrical  Decorated  composition 
of  seven  lights.* 

*  Whether  Bishop  Wakefield's  west  window  was  in  situ  in  1789 
when  the  debased  one  was  erected  to  commemorate  the  visit  of 
George  III.  and  his  queen  to  the  musical  festival  of  The  Three 
Choirs  in  the  preceding  year,  I  have  not  sufficient  data  before 
me  to  prove,  but  prints  of  the  west  front,  published  before  that 
date,  might  be  helpful.  The  tracery  in  the  bishop's  window  would 
in  all  probability  have  been  curvilinear,  or  if  not  confirmed 
Perpendicular,  a  transition  between  the  two.  For  designing  the 
present  window  with  geometrical  tracery  the  cathedral  architect, 
Mr  A.  E.  Perkins,  was  censured  at  the  time,  purists  asserting 
that  he  should  have  adopted  that  form  of  it  which  was  prevalent 
during  the  second  half  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  original 
fenestration  of  the  east  end  of  the  choir  of  Worcester  Cathedral 
•eems  to  have  been  disturbed  some  time  during  the  Decorated 
period,  and  one  large  window  substituted  for  what  was  in  all 
probability  a  double  tier  of  lancets.  This  window  was  rebuilt 
after  the  devastation  of  the  cathedral  during  the  Civil  Wars  in 
1662-63,  and  again  in  1792,  but  there  are  no  records  to  state  how  the 
necessity  arose  for  the  erection  of  a  window  which  was  only  rebuilt 
a  hundred  and  thirty  years  before.  The  tracery  in  this  late 
eighteenth-century  window  was,  as  may  be  supposed,  of  a  spurious 
character,  combining  geometrical  Decorated  and  the  Perpen- 
dicular forms  of  tracery ;  still  for  the  time  of  its  erection,  it  was 
by  no  means  contemptible.  An  illustration  of  it  is  given  in 
Wild's  monograph,  published  in  18^5.  This  window  disappeared 
between  1857  and  1863,  when  the  eastern  part  of  the  cathedral 
was  almost  entirely  rebuilt  under  Mr  Perkins,  who  substi- 
tuted what  was  in  all  likelihood  the  original  arrangam«ot 

296 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

In  1335  the  raising  of  the  central  tower  of  Salisbury 
Cathedral,  and  the  erection  of  the  great  spire,  were 
commenced.  When  completed  the  whole  rose  to  a 
height  of  four  hundred  and  four  feet  from  the  pave- 
ment. To  the  same  architect  is  attributed  the  central 
tower  of  Pershore  Abbey  in  Worcestershire,  and  as 
there  are  several  points  of  resemblance  and  dissimi- 
larity between  these  two  works,  a  short  space  must  be 
devoted  to  their  consideration. 

It  may  seem  strange  at  first  sight  to  claim  so  close 
a  parallelism  between  so  sumptuous  a  work  as  the 
tower  of  Salisbury  and  one  comparatively  so  simple  as 
that  of  Pershore,  yet  the  more  carefully  they  are 
compared,  the  more  convincing  is  the  evidence  that 
they  were  either  designed  by  the  same  hand,  or  that 
one  was  directly  copied  from  the  other.  Sir  Gilbert 
Scott,  who  reproduced  the  Pershore  tower  with  some 
modifications  in  that  of  St  John's  College  Chapel, 
Cambridge  (1863-68),  believed  that  the  former  was  the 
case,  and  that  the  tower  of  Pershore  was  a  slightly 
later  work  of  the  Salisbury  architect.  At  Salisbury 
the  cathedral  had  in  the  main  been  completed  by  about 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  or  a  little  later. 

of  two  tiers  of  lancets.  Externally  this  modern  east  end  is  poor 
and  flat,  but  within,  these  two  tiers  of  five  lancets,  with  their 
marble  shafts  and  the  foliaged  ornament  in  their  spandrels,  are 
very  pleasing,  and  produce  a  fine  effect  from  the  west  end  of  the 
cathedral.  The  "  medallion  "  glass  with  which  they  are  filled  is 
by  Hardman,  and  formed  an  important  feature  in  the  Great 
Exhibition  of  1862. 

In  his  "  Monastery  and  Cathedral  of  Worcester,"  published  in 
1866,  Mr  Noke  informs  us  that  this  eighteenth-century  eaat 
window  of  the  choir  was  destroyed  by  Mr  Perkins"  "  amid  general 

297 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

The  central  tower,  however,  had  only  been  carried  a 
little  above  the  ridges  of  the  four  abutting  roofs,  and 
the  story  against  which  these  roofs  impinged  was  a 
lantern  story,  the  walls  of  which  were  rendered  hollow 
by  a  passage  through  their  thickness,  fronted  towards 
the  interior  with  elegant  pillars  and  forming  window- 
like  screenwork.  The  angles  expanded  into  pro- 
jecting turrets  of  peculiar  form,  neither  square  nor 
octagonal,  but  a  .union  of  the  two.  These  were 
perforated  by  staircases.  Thus  far,  at  Salisbury,  the 
work  belonged  to  the  thirteenth  century ;  and  on  this, 
as  a  substructure,  the  architect  of  the  fourteenth 
century  erected  with  singular  temerity,  but  with  great 
artistic  skill,  the  present  tower  and  spire — the  work 
as  of  an  angel  architect.  Now  if  we  credit  the 
Pershore  tower  to  the  same  hand,  what  do  we  find  was 
the  course  he  followed  ?  Having  no  lantern  story 
provided  for  him  as  at  Salisbury,  he  commenced  by 
translating  that  which  he  had  found  ready  to  his  hand 
into  the  style  of  his  own  period.  Having  erected  his 
lantern  story,  he  proceeded  to  cap  it  externally  with  an 
embattled  cornice,  which  is  simply  a  reproduction  with 
trifling  alterations  of  that  with  which  he  had  crowned 
the  older  lantern  at  Salisbury.  Upon  this  he  raised 
a  bell-story,  which  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  the 
first  stage  of  his  Salisbury  tower,  studiously  divested 
of  its  richer  detail.  Every  feature  is  alike,  though 
simplified,  and  the  lower  stage  is  merely  a  plainer 
version  of  the  corresponding  stage  at  Salisbury,  the 
great  distinction  being  that  it  is  but  one,  whereas 
there  are  two  in  the  prototype,  and  a  spire  in  addition. 
The  details  bv.ir  considerable  resemblance — the  dis- 

208 


'THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

tribution  of  windows,  blank  spaces  and  piers  is 
absolutely  identical,  and  so  is  even  the  peculiar  plan  of 
the  stair  turrets,  as  also  are  the  very  remarkable  bands 
of  quatrefoils,  etc.,  which  divide  the  stages  of  the 
buttresses.  While  speaking,  however,  of  the  details 
as  being  simplified  from  those  of  Salisbury,  we  must 
except  the  internal  features  of  the  lantern.  These,  of 
course,  differ  in  style  as  they  do  in  date  from  the 
original,  but  they  are  far  richer  and  more  beautiful; 
indeed  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  lantern  story  so 
elegant  as  that  at  Pershore,  and  it  stands  quite  alone 
in  its  design.  The  analogy  between  Pershore  and 
Salisbury,  however,  extends  be3rond  the  tower.  The 
vaulting  of  the  choir  was  at  the  same  time  completed, 
and  a  noble  specimen  of  English  proficiency  in  this 
art  it  is ;  and  the  flying  buttresses  with  the  pinnacles 
consequently  carried  out,  and  these  latter  closely 
resemble  those  executed  simultaneously  with  the  tower 
at  Salisbury ;  even  the  little  frill  of  leaves  round  the 
bases  of  the  pinnacles  are  identical,  as  are  also  the 
very  peculiar  horizontal  cuts  in  the  copings  of  the 
flying  buttresses. 

Such  a  multitude  of  coincidences  could  not  possibly 
be  accidental,  nor  could  they  be  the  result  of  mere 
imitation ;  they  seem  to  be  only  capable  of  being 
accounted  for  by  the  two  structures  having  been 
designed  by  the  same  hand,  and  unhappily  they  agree 
in  another  particular — the  utter  absence  of  information 
as  to  their  date  and  erection. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  in  the  far  north  of 
England,  the  Decorated  style — of  which  the  magni- 
ficent window  at  Carlisle  may  be  regarded  as  the 

299 


A    GUIDE    TO    GOTHIC    ARCHITECTURE 

supreme  effort — was  still  improving  and  reaching 
almost  perfection,  while  in  the  south  and  west,  as  at 
Winchester  and  Gloucester,  the  fashion  was  changing 
into  a  more  mechanical,  but  yet,  when  well  carried  out, 
a  truly  magnificent  style,  peculiar  to  England  and  to 
English  architects — the  Perpendicular. 


300 


CHOIR    OF    BRISTOL    CAT  HI-.  ORAL. 

(From    a   drawing    by   Wild,    1^30.) 


: KM-  IORI  >  c  \  i  ni'HR  \L. 


To  face  p.   301 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE   DECORATED   STYLE — continued 

Notice*  of  building*  (continued) — St  Etheldreda's,  Ely  Place — 
Augustinian  Churches — St  Stephen's  Chapel,  Westminster — 
Churches  at  Hawton,  Nantwich — Cley-next-the-Sea — Patring- 
ton — The  Decorated  work  of  Cambridgeshire — Painting  and 
•tained  glass — List  of  buildings  of  the  period. 

HAVING  passed  in  review  some  of  the  largest  and  most 
important  works  of  this  wonderful  century  (1270 
1370)  I  pass  on  to  some  others,  less  imposing,  perhaps, 
but  equally  valuable,  as  being  of  the  highest  order. 
Of  these  London  possesses  two  interesting  examples, 
viz.  St  Etheldreda's,  Ely  Place,  Holborn,  a  small 
building  without  aisles,  yet  of  stately  proportions, 
suited  to  the  wants  of  the  private  household  and 
retinue  of  a  prelate  * ;  and  the  Augustinian  Church 
near  Broad  Street,  a  magnificent  structure,  which, 
belonging  as  it  did  to  a  preaching  order,  was  built  to 
accommodate  large  masses  of  people. 

St  Etheldreda's  is  a  small  parallelogram  eighty  feet 
long  by  thirty  feet  high,  and  fifty  feet  from  the  floor 
to  the  apex  of  the  roof,  and  below  it  is  a  crypt  of' 

*  This  chapel  is  the  solitary  remnant  of  the  once  splendid 
London  palace  of  the  Bishops  of  Ely,  removed  shortly  after  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

301 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

corresponding  dimensions,  constructed  for  the  purpose 
of  bringing  the  chapel  to  a  level  with  the  episcopal 
apartments.  The  walls  are  divided  into  seven  bays 
by  a  delicate  and  beautiful  arcading,  the  five  wide  bays 
having  two-light  windows  with  geometrical  Decorated 
tracery,  which,  together  with  the  entire  chapel,  were 
restored  about  forty  years  ago.  Previous  to  that  time 
the  chapel  had  undergone  great  disfigurement,  and  it 
was  while  it  was  in  this  condition  that  Sir  Gilbert  Scott 
applied  for  permission  to  examine  it  in  order  to 
discover  whether  the  missing  tracery  of  the  side 
windows  was  still  on  the  spot.  These  windows, 
denuded  of  their  decoration,  retained  internally  their 
beautiful  jamb  mouldings,  and  the  wall  between  them 
had  a  graceful  canopied  and  crocketed  panel  to  each 
intervening  pier,  which  gave  the  sides  a  very  rich 
effect.  Sir  Gilbert  Scott  had  long  and  often  lamented 
their  mutilated  condition,  and  was  one  day  endeavour- 
ing to  obtain  some  clue  to  the  design  of  their  tracery, 
by  examining  the  scars  where  it  had  been  amputated, 
when  the  thought  struck  him  that  the  two  westernmost 
of  them  being  blocked  up  by  the  adjoining  houses, 
might,  if  opened  out,  be  found  to  retain  their  decora- 
tive features.  He  applied  for  permission  to  do  this, 
and  to  his  delight,  on  removing  the  materials  which 
obstructed  them,  found  the  old  window,  mutilated 
indeed  and  shattered,  but  still  retaining  every  element 
needful  to  the  restoration  of  its  design. 

The  great  east  and  west  windows  having  retained 
their  differently  beautiful  Decorated  tracery  almost 
intact  needed  only  a  careful  and  conservative  restora- 
tion. The  former,  an  admirable  example  of  that  type 

302 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

of  window  in  which  the  mullions  of  the  tracery  cross 
each  other,  with  the  spaces  thus  formed  foliated,  is 
filled  with  some  of  the  finest  stained  glass  produced 
in  England  since  the  revival  of  the  art. 

Lightness  and  grace  specially  distinguish  the  nave  * 
of  the  church  of  the  Austin  Friars,  which  justly  bears 
comparison  with  those  of  many  of  our  cathedrals. 
The  church  itself,  and  notably  its  piers,  belongs  to  the 
Perpendicular  style,  but  in  arrangement  and  general 
form  it  preserves  the  Decorated  character  of  an  earlier 
church  on  the  same  site;  the  windows,  removed  from 
the  preceding  building,  being  of  a  very  rich  though 
late  Decorated  type.  London  is  indeed  fortunate  in 
still  possessing  so  noble  a  portion  of  a  preaching  friar's 
church,  preserved  alike  from  the  great  fire  of  1666, 
and  from  the  even  more  destructive  force  of  private 
interest. 

A  great  disaster  occurred  to  this  church  in  1862, 
when  its  roofs  were  totally  destroyed  by  fire,  and  the 
walls  so  much  injured  that  it  was  at  first  doubtful 
whether  it  would  be  possible  to  repair  it,  but  to  the 
everlasting  honour  of  its  present  possessors — the 
Dutch  residents  in  London — it  was  decided  to  do  so. 

The  length  of  the  existing  church  is  one  hundred 
and  fifty -three  feet ;  longer  than  some  of  our  cathedral 
naves ;  the  width  of  the  nave  is  thirty-five  feet,  eight 
inches,  and  that  of  the  north  and  south  aisles  twenty- 
two  feet  three  inches  each,  making  up  a  total  between 
the  walls  of  about  eighty-three  feet — wider  than  any 
English  cathedral,  except  Chichester.  The  arcades 

*  The  only  portion  remaining  of  a  vast  craciform  structure, 
{See  "  Ix>ndpn  Churches,  Ancient  and  Modern,"  vol.  i.  n.  125.) 

303 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

are  very  lofty  and  light,  and  though  there  is 
no  clerestory  it  must  be  considered  on  the  whole 
a  good  type  of  a  town  church,  and  two  fine 
modern  London  churches  have  been  designed  upon  its 
model — St  George's  Cathedral,  Lambeth,  by  Pugin 
(1841-48)  and  St  Mary  Magdalene,  Munster  Square, 
by  Carpenter  (1850-52).  This  church  is  one  of  three 
types  adopted  by  the  Augustinian  Order  in  this 
country,  by  whom  only  one  cathedral — at  once  secular 
and  monastic — was  served,  viz.  Carlisle.  Bristol 
Cathedral,  originally  the  church  of  an  Augustinian 
house  only  became  the  seat  of  a  bishop  at  the 
Dissolution. 

In  1328  Edward  III.  ascended  the  throne,  and 
resumed  and  completed  the  magnificent  Chapel  of  St 
Stephen  in  the  Palace  of  Westminster.*  Its  crypt  had 
been  commenced  about  forty  years  before  (on  the 
site  of  an  earlier  chapel)  by  Edward  I. ;  but  in  1298 
there  was  a  great  fire,  and  possibly  little  was  done  in 
succeeding  years  to  repair  it,  and  this  most  superb 
building  was,  therefore,  one  of  the  most  distinctive  of 
Edward  III.'s  reign  in  all  its  detail  and  magnificence 
of  decoration.  It  was  regretted  on  all  hands  that  Sir 
Charles  Barry's  plans  for  rebuilding  the  Houses  of 
Parliament  after  the  fire  of  1834  involved  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  upper  chapel  walls,  though  he  is  to  be 
thanked  for  preserving  the  noble  crypt.  After  the 
burning  of  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  the  walls  of  the 
chapel  were  standing,  purified  of  the  disgraceful 
fittings,  ceilings,  and  floors  which  had  obscured  their 

*  The   site    of    St   Stephen's    Chapel    is    now    occupied    by   that 
corridor  known  a*  St  Stephen's  Hall. 

3°4 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

beauties,  and  made  a  bad  and  hideous  room  out  of  one 
of  the  most  exquisite  pieces  of  Edwardian  Gothic  in 
England.  The  window  tracery  and  the  roof  had  dis- 
appeared before  the  conflagration  of  1834,  and  it  is  not 
known  what  the  real  design  of  either  was.  Most 
careful  measured  drawings  of  St  Stephen's  had  been 
made  by  John  Carter,*  for  the  Society  of  Antiquaries, 
many  years  before,  and  he  also  made  an  ideal  restora- 
tion. He  is,  however,  candid  enough  to  say  where 
there  was,  and  where  there  was  not  authority  for  this 
restoration ;  and  the  window  tracery  he  avowedly 
derives  from  Merton  College  Chapel,  Oxford ;  but  it 
can  hardly  be  correct,  as  the  spandrels  on  each  side  of 
the  windows  indicate  quite  another  type  of  tracery, 
more  like  that  in  the  windows  of  the  crypt.  It  must, 
however,  be  remembered  that  the  crypt  and  the  body 
of  the  walls  of  the  upper  chapel  represent  the  work  of 
Edward  I.  and  that  after  the  fire,  when  Edward  III. 
resumed  the  work  he  may  have  inserted  new  tracery 
differing  from  the  original  design.  He  evidently 

*  John  Carter,  the  first  effective  labourer  in  the  revival  of 
English  Gothic  architecture,  was  an  enthusiastic  antiquary  of 
George  III.'s  reign,  who  went  about  the  country  sketching, 
measuring,  and  describing  every  ancient  building  he  saw.  The 
Society  of  Antiquaries,  recognising  his  delineative  powers  and 
knowledge  of  architecture,  employed  him  to  etch  many  of  the 
views  of  the  ancient  buildings  published  under  their  direction. 

He  made  careful  measured  drawings  of  the  Cathedral*  of 
Durham,  Exeter,  Gloucester,  St  Albans,  and  York,  and  Bath 
Abbey. 

But  John  Carter  wielded  the  pen  with  equal  facility,  for  between 
1798  and  1817  there  appeared  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  tinder 
the  title  "  Pursuits  of  Architectural  Innovation,"  a  series  of 
letters  calling  the  attention  of  Deans  and  Chapters  in  a  most 
trenchant  fashion  to  the  degraded  state  into  which  the  noble 
buildings  committed  to  their  care  had  been  permitted  to  lapse. 

305  u 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

altered  the  interior  (which  would  have  suffered  most 
from  the  fire),  the  marble  seat  which  ran  round  it, 
and  the  rich  arcades  and  panelling  were  of  his  period. 
The  Sainte  Chapelle  at  Paris  had  been  erected  at  an 
earlier  period  by  St  Louis  of  France ;  and  the  later 
English  chapel  was  perhaps  erected  in  rivalry  of  the 
other.  St  Stephen's  Chapel  had  neither  apse  nor 
stone  groined  roof  as  the  French  chapel  has,  though  in 
both  cases  the  crypts  are  groined  magnificently.  It 
would,  however,  almost  seem  that  the  original  idea 
of  Edward  I.  had  been  to  groin  his  upper  chapel,  as  the 
buttresses  are  of  sufficient  size  to  resist  the  thrust  of 
a  stone  vault,  but  Edward  III.  clearly  put  up  a  wooden 
roof.  It  was  not  till  1363  that  the  decorations  of  the 
interior  were  completed,  and  most  interesting  records 
are  preserved  descriptive  of  them  and  the  materials 
used,  and  it  is  evident  that  they  were  of  the  very 
highest  order  of  art.  I  shall  recur  to  them  when 
describing  the  mural  paintings  and  stained  glass  which 
enrich  this  glorious  period  of  our  architecture. 

The  crypt  of  St  Stephen's,  a  very  beautiful 
specimen  of  the  early  Decorated  style,  was  carefullv 
restored  under  the  direction  of  Mr  E.  M.  Barry 
between  1863  and  1865,  the  walls  and  roof  richly 
decorated  in  a  style  consonant  with  the  period  of  the 
building,  and  the  windows  filled  by  Hardman  with 
stained  glass  of  much  richness  and  brilliancy  of 
tincture. 

In   the   section   on   the   Gothic  of   England   in   his 

'History    of    Architecture,"     Fergusson    gives    an 

internal  elevation  of  St   Stephen's   Chapel,   showing 

its  windows  to  have  been  of  four  lighls  with  geomet- 

306 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

rical  tracery,  rich  panelling  in  the  spandrels,  and 
between  each  window  a  canopied  niche  containing  a 
statue.  Below  the  windows  there  appears  to  be  a 
bench  table,  the  wall  behind  being  arcaded  and 
painted. 

In  the  Monthly  Supplement  of  the  Penny  Magazine 
(3Oth  November- 3 1 st  December,  1834)  is  a  view  of 
the  interior  of  St  Stephen's  looking  east.  This  cut 
shows  five  pointed  arches  on  either  hand  rising  from 
clusters  of  shafts,  apparently  attached  to  the  walls 
which,  as  far  as  can  be  judged  from  the  illustration, 
have  Perpendicular  windows  in  them.  At  the  east 
end  is  one  very  large  window  of  six  lights,  also  with 
Perpendicular  tracery  brought  so  low  down  as  to  have 
but  little  dignity  of  effect.  The  roof  is  given  as  a 
three-sided  one,  divided  into  panels .  The  plate  is 
called  "  Restoration  of  St  Stephen's  Chapel,"  but  no 
authority  is  quoted  for  it. 

In  1835-6  a  folio  volume  was  published  by  the  Office 
of  Woods  and  Forests  professing  to  illustrate  the 
chapel  they  were  destroying,  but  it  was  so  badly  done 
that  it  was  virtually  useless.  It  adopts  the  absurd 
theory  of  two  stories  above  the  crypt,  and  is  full  of 
errors. 

As  an  example  of  the  Decorated  style  in  its  later 
or  curvilinear  phase,  no  finer  example  could  be 
adduced  than  the  chancel  of  Hawton  Church,  near 
Newark,  which  some  of  my  older  readers  may  re- 
member by  Mr  G.  G.  Place's  drawings  of  it  published 
more  than  sixtv  years  ago  by  the  Ecclesiological 
Society. 

A  more  tasteful  structure  than  the  chancel  of  this 

3°7 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

church  can  scarcely  be  conceived.     The  exterior  is  not 
overloaded  with  ornament,  but  is  really  good.     In  all 
its  proportions  and  details  it  is  a  standard  and  study 
of  excellence.     The  grand  seven-light  window  which, 
with  its  flowing  tracer}*,  adorns  the  east,  can  scarcely 
divert  attention  from  the  beauties  of  the  southern  side. 
Upon    whatever    point    the    eye    fixes,    whether    the 
buttresses,   the  base  mouldings,    and   string-courses, 
the  parapet,  the  doorway,  the  three  southern  windows, 
or  any  other  part,  perfection  seems  to  smile  upon  it 
everywhere.     One  arrangement  which  shows  a  very 
bold  stroke  of  a  master  mind,  whereby,  with  singular 
success,  a  difficulty  has  been  overcome,  which  conven- 
tionalities  would   have   rendered   to   ordinary    minds 
insuperable,  is  this  :  the  southern  side  of  the  chancel 
is  divided  by  simple  but  elegant  buttresses  into  three 
equal    bays ;    and    in    perfecting    the    design    it    was 
necessary  to  have  a  corresponding  window  in  each. 
There  was   the  difficulty ;   for  a  door  :i:    was   equally 
necessary,  not  only  for  utility,  but  to  relieve  in  some 
degree  the  dullness  of  uniformity  ;  and  where  was  room 
to  be  found  for  it  ?    The  designer  has  not  hesitated  to 
cut  off  a  portion  of  the  lower  part  of  one  side  of  the 
centre  window  with  a  blank  piece  of  wall,  defined  with 
n  skewtable  cutting  across  in  a  slanting  direction,  as 
in  perspective  a  porch  would  intersect  a  window,  and 
yet  without  detriment.      Into  this   portion   so  gained 
he  has  inserted  a  doorway  worthy  of  the  rest  of  the 
edifice. 

Not  only  is  the  exterior  of  Hawton  Church  so  good, 
but  in  the  interior  the  Easter  sepulchre,  founder's  tomb 

*  The  priest's  door. 
308 


ANWICK    CHURCH,    LIXCOI.NSHIRi:. 


AU'lOX   (  lll'KCH,   \(  )  I  I  INCHA.MSHIk'l 


'I'o  face  p.  j(-8. 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

and  sedilia  afford  equal  if  not  greater  attractions.  The 
Easter  sepulchre  formerly  used  in  the  worship  of  the 
church  in  pre-Reformation  times,  having  been  usually 
of  wood  is  seldom  found  in  stone  in  our  English 
churches.  The  most  interesting  example  in  the 
district  of  Hawton  is,  I  believe,  that  at  Ashwell  in 
Rutlandshire.  But  the  most  famous  for  their  pro- 
fusion of  ornament  are  those  of  Lincoln  Cathedral, 
Heckington,  Patrington  and  Hawton.*  The  exquisite 
enrichment  of  the  northern  wall  of  the  chancel  at 
Hawton  by  the  doorway,  the  founder's  tomb,  and  the 
sepulchre,  in  all  of  which  the  ogee  arch  prevails,  and 
of  the  opposite  one  by  the  famous  sedilia  it  is  impos- 
sible to  describe.  The  work  is  in  excellent  preser- 
vation, and  is  as  good  in  execution  as  design. 

Turning  to  quite  another  part  of  the  country — the 
comparatively  inedited  county  of  Cheshire,  inedited 
that  is  to  say  ecclesiologically,  we  find  an  extremely 
elegant  illustration  of  the  architecture  that  prevailed 
here  about  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  in  the 
stately  cruciform  church  of  St  Mary  and  St  Nicholas  at 
Nantwich,  remarkable  for  its  central  tower  which 
assumes  the  form  of  an  octagon.  The  plan  of  Nant- 
wich Church  includes  a  nave  of  four  bays,  with 
aisles,  transepts,  and  a  deep,  aisleless  chancel  having 
a  sacristy  at  its  north-east  angle.  The  great  east  and 
west  windows  are  early  Perpendicular,  and  the  whole 
of  the  south  transept  is  of  this  style.  The  head  of 
the  east  window,  which  has  seven  lights,  and  owing 

*  There  is  a  very  fine  but  much  larger  Easter  sepulchre  of  late 
Perpendicular  date  (c.  1480)  in  Northwold  Church  near  Stoke  Ferry 
in  the  south-western  division  of  Norfolk. 

309 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

to  the  inconsiderable  height  of  the  chancel,  brought 
somewhat  low  down,  is  enclosed  by  a  straight-sided 
and  crocketed  gable  rising  into  the  richly  traceried 
open  parapet  which  is  embattled ;  the  spaces  formed 
by  the  window-head  and  the  gable  being  filled  with 
open  tracery.  The  great  windows  of  the  nave  and 
south  transept  fronts  are  of  eight  lights  apiece. 

In  the  nave  the  tracery  of  the  aisle  windows  is 
geometrical  Decorated,  while  in  those  of  the  chancel  it 
has  passed  into  the  curvilinear  phase.  Very  stately 
indeed  is  the  octagonal  tower  which  internally  is 
carried  on  four  grand  late  Decorated  arches  rising 
from  clusters  of  shafts  with  floriated  capitals.  It  has 
one  window  of  two  compartments  on  each  face  except 
the  cardinal  one  on  the  south,  where  a  turret  adjoins 
it.  Ogee  hood  mouldings  with  crockets  and  finials 
crown  the  arches  of  the  belfry  windows ;  small 
buttresses  at  each  angle  of  the  octagon  confer  an 
additional  elegance  of  contour  to  the  mass ;  and  small 
pinnacles  unconnected  with  these  buttresses  and  rising 
from  the  battlemented  turret  give  the  whole  an 
appropriate  finish. 

Built  as  it  is  of  the  local  sandstone,  Nantwich 
Church  composes  a  fine  architectural  group.  If 
loftiness  be  wanting  solidity  gives  it  dignity ;  skilful 
grouping  of  parts  adds  considerable  picturesqueness, 
and  the  rich  details  satisfy  the  eye  as  it  passes  from 
the  mass  to  examine  some  individual  feature  with 
attention. 

Internally  the  effect  is  grand  and  sumptuous  in 
the  extreme,  its  constructional  grandeur,  its  costly 
embellishment  since  its  restoration  half  a  century  a^o 

lio 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

under  Sir  Gilbert  Scott,  and  general  propriety  of 
arrangement  are  all  deserving  of  admiration.  No 
less  so  are  its  mediaeval  instrumenta — the  flowing 
Decorated  sedilia,  the  twenty-five  richly  canopied 
Perpendicular  stalls,  said  to  have  been  brought  from 
Vale  Royal  Abbey,  and  the  original  Perpendicular 
stone  pulpit  connected  with  a  low  screen  or  septum 
of  the  same  material  at  the  entrance  to  the  chancel; 
but  the  depth  of  its  transepts  and  the  aisleless 
character  of  its  equally  long  chancel,  however  beautiful 
and  picturesque  they  may  be,  preclude  Nantwich 
Church  from  forming  the  model  for  a  parish  church 
suited  to  present-day  requirements. 

Although  the  majority  of  the  churches  in  Norfolk 
and  Suffolk  belong  to  the  Perpendicular  era,  there  are 
a  few  very  graceful  examples  of  the  later  Decorated, 
as  for  example,  Elsing,  Filby,  Hingham,  Snettisham, 
Trunch,  Tunstead,  and  Worstead  in  the  former 
county,  and  Bacton,  Freslingfield,  Wigenhale  (St 
Mary  Virgin  and  St  Mary  Magdalene),  and  Woolpit 
in  the  latter.  To  those  in  the  former  county  must 
be  added  Cley-next-the-Sea,  with  one  of  the  finest 
parochial  Decorated  naves  in  England,  but  with  a 
tower  and  chancel  hardly  worthy  of  it.  The  external 
elevation  of  the  south  transept — a  fine  piece  of 
Decorated  work — is  unusually  fine.  It  is  flanked  by 
buttresses  terminating  in  pinnacles  rich  in  crockets 
and  finials,  and  the  gable  which  is  also  crocketed 
supports  a  floriated  cross  of  singular  beauty.  The 
southern  window  of  this  transept  at  Cley  is  of  four 
lights  with  depressed  tref oiled  heads.  The  lines  of 
the  comprising  arch,  instead  of  being  carried  from  the 


A  GUIDE  TO   GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

jambs  to  the  apex  in  a  direct  curve,  expand  shortly 
after  leaving  the  former,  the  additional  width  gained 
by  this  means  affording  scope  for  the  introduction  of 
two  large  circles  separated  from  one  another  by  the 
subarches  which  divide  the  four  lights  into  pairs. 
These  circles  are  quatrefoiled,  and  as  each  lobe  of  the 
quatrefoil  is  cinquefoiled,  some  idea  may  be  formed 
of  the  extremely  rich  appearance  of  this  window. 
The  four  large  quartrefoiled  diamond-shaped  figures 
composing  the  tracery  in  the  head  of  the  window  are 
similarly  enriched,  the  subcuspings  in  this  instance 
being  trefoils. 

Other  admiranda  at  Cley  are — the  western  doorway 
which  has  a  cinquefoiled  arch  with  trefoiled  ornaments 
at  the  points  of  the  lobes,  and  foliage  in  the  spaces 
made  by  the  cinquefoiled  inner  and  the  simply  curved 
outer  arch ;  and  the  treatment  of  the  clerestory,  where 
circular  windows  quatrefoiled  alternate  with  two-light 
ones,  an  arrangement  met  with  at  Terrington  St  John 
and  elsewhere  in  Norfolk,  but  which  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  adopted  in  other  counties.*  The  south 
porch,  one  of  the  most  imposing  of  the  parvis  kind 
in  England,  belongs  to  the  period  which  our  history 
has  not  yet  reached. 

Of  Decorated  work  in  Yorkshire,  the  church  at 
Howden,  the  nave  of  the  minster  and  the  chancel  of 
St  Mary's  at  Beverley,  the  choir  of  Selbv,  the 
east  end  of  the  ruined  abbey  at  G.uisborough,  and  the 
nave  of  Bridlington,  are  very  fine  examples.  The 
use  of  a  peculiar  pointed  ornament  (a  form  of  ball- 

*  Padbury  Church,  Bucks,  ha*  a  low  clerestory  of  circular 
windows. 


JJ~ 


HOLY    TRINITY.     KI'AS  1  \(, TON. 
(Modern   example  of  the  lat-j  Decorated   >tyle.) 


To  face  p.  312. 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

flower)  may  be  noticed  as  unusual  in  the  south  of 
England ;  and  there  is  a  tendency  in  the  smaller 
churches  to  use  that  kind  of  column  into  which  the 
arch  mouldings  subside  without  the  intervention 
of  a  capital.  The  group  of  late  Decorated  churches 
in  South  Yorkshire — Darton,  Darfield,  Royston, 
Penistone  and  Silkstone  deserve  notice,  but  the  pride 
of  Yorkshire  fourteenth-century  Gothic  is  the 
4  Queen  of  Holderness,"  the  elegant  Church  of 
Patrington,  built  in  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of 
Edward  III.  Cruciform  in  plan,  Patrington  Church 
is  generally  stated  to  have  been  raised,  like  Salisbury 
Cathedral,  on  virgin  soil,  and  all  in  one  style.  It  was 
not,  however,  built  out  of  the  ground,  unaffected  by 
what  was  there  before,  and  is  not  entirely  fourteenth 
century  in  style.  There  is  no  doubt  that  where  the 
screen  is  was  originally  the  chancel,  and  that  this  and 
other  features  were  the  result  of  the  site  having  been 
previously  occupied  by  a  church  which  was  not  entirely 
demolished  until  there  was  provision  made  for 
worship  in  the  new  building.  One  feature  in  the 
church  is  the  extreme  development  of  the  transept, 
the  windows  at  each  end  of  which  are  distinctly  of 
an  earlier  period  than  the  other  windows.  This 
church  has  also  been  attributed  to  a  canon  of  York  of 
the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century.  This  is  a 
mistake,  for  the  work  is  a  little  earlier  than  that,  but 
the  execution  was  probably  interfered  with  by  "  the 
black  death  "  which  desolated  the  country  in  1349. 
Regarded  architecturally  it  is  a  great  deal  more  of  a 
Lincolnshire  than  a  Yorkshire  church,  much  of  the 
detail  being  similar  to  that  of  Heckington  Church. 

3*3 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

But  perhaps  the  most  interesting  features  of 
Patrington  Church  are  its  Lady  Chapel — one  which, 
in  an  English  parish  church  is,  both  from  its  position 
and  shape,  unique — and  its  spire. 

The  great  (and  for  a  parish  church  unusual) 
development  of  the  transepts  somewhat  dwarf  the 
nave  and  choir.  From  the  eastern  aisle  of  the  south 
transept,  which  (i.e.  the  aisle)  is  groined  throughout, 
opens  the  Lady  Chapel.  It  forms  a  three-sided  apse, 
two  sides  of  which  are  pierced  for  windows,  whilst  that 
in  the  centre  shows  an  oblong  panel  above  the  altar 
site  with  tabernacle  work  in  three  divisions  over  it, 
thus  forming  a  tall  reredos.  The  arrangement  of  the 
central  boss  in  the  groining  of  this  chapel  is  perhaps 
unique ;  it  is  formed  into  a  pendant,  open  on  the 
eastern  side,  so  as  to  contain  a  lantern  which  would 
throw  its  light  down  upon  the  altar. 

The  design  of  the  central  tower  and  spire  is  singu- 
larly graceful  and  original,  although  the  massiveness 
of  the  neighbouring  tower  of  Hedon  gives  perhaps 
greater  dignity.  Round  the  third  story  of  the  tower, 
which  is  the  belfry,  runs  an  arcade  of  four  arches  on 
each  side,  of  which  two  are  pierced  with  square- 
headed  windows.  From  the  tower  rises  an  open 
octagon  having  two  cinquefoiled  arcades  in  each  of  its 
sides  and  whose  mullions  are  carried  up  through  a 
simple,  also  open,  parapet  into  crocketed  pinnacles. 
This  octagon  is  connected  with  the  angles  of  the  tower 
by  small  flying  buttresses,  and  from  within  it  a  plain 
octagonal  spire  rises  to  the  height  of  one  hundred  and 
eighty  feet  from  the  ground. 

Internally  the  tower  is  supported  by  four  massive 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

piers  each  containing  twenty  shafts,  with  unusually 
fine  bases.  On  the  south  side  of  the  sanctuary  are 
three  very  graceful  sedilia,  with  a  piscina ;  and  in  the 
opposite  wall  one  of  the  most  perfect  Easter  sepulchres 
remaining  in  England. 

All  authorities  upon  church  architecture  agree  that 
in  pure  examples  of  that  beautiful  period  of  art  which 
was  developed  out  of  the  Early  English  style, 
Cambridgeshire  holds  a  foremost  position.  The 
most  accomplished  church  architect  England  has  ever 
seen,  Alan  de  Walsingham,  was  now  carrying  on  his 
marvellous  work  at  Ely  in  the  octagon  and  Lady 
Chapel,  and  Prior  Cranden,  John  of  Wisbeach, 
Bishops  Hotham  and  Montacute^  all  zealous  church 
builders  flourished  during  the  prevalence  of  this  style. 
And  no  doubt  their  influence  vibrated  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  diocese  in  which  at  this  period  church 
building  like  church  architecture  seems  to  have 
attained  its  culminating  point ;  for  of  the  hundred 
and  ninety  churches  in  the  county  something  like  one 
hundred  and  twenty  have  portions  in  this  style ;  and 
of  these  one  hundred  and  twenty,  one  hundred  and 
seventeen  are  entirely  of  this  period  with  no  other 
admixture.  Thirty-one  chancels  and  thirty-three 
towers  were  also  built  or  rebuilt,  and  a  very  large 
number  of  aisles,  chapels,  porches,  and  other 
additions,  which  testify  to  the  extraordinary  zeal, 
energy  and  taste  animating  the  ecclesiastical  archi- 
tects in  the  diocese  of  Ely  during  the  time  the 
Decorated  or  middle  pointed  style  prevailed,  coinciding 
pretty  well  with  the  hundred  years  occupied  by  the 
reigns  of  the  first  three  Edwards,  and  during  the 

315 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

whole  of  that  century  there  was  no  falling  off  either 
here  or  in  any  other  part  of  England. 

In  selecting  a  few  of  the  choicest  examples  of  this 
glorious  style,  as  illustrated  in  Cambridgeshire,  what 
exquisite  creations  of  art  seem  to  rise  up  before  one. 
The  skilful  elegance  of  the  octagon  at  Ely  Cathedral 
— one  of,  if  not  the  best  pieces  of  Decorated  composi- 
tion in  the  kingdom ;  the  elaborate  lightness  of  the 
three  western  bays  of  the  choir ;  the  gorgeously  minute 
enrichment  of  the  Lady  Chapel,  throw  a  fascinating 
spell  over  the  lover  of  Christian  art  and  make  him 
feel  how  inglorious  the  best  creations  of  our  own  day 
appear  in  comparison.  And  if  leaving  the  mother 
church  we  wander  among  some  of  her  more  humble 
daughters,  we  shall  still  have  to  acknowledge  how  very 
far  off  we  are  in  these  vaunted  days  from  attaining 
the  artistic  excellence  of  the  Edwardian  period. 
Bottisham  with  its  pure  bold  suites  of  mouldings,  its 
exquisite  proportions  and  highly  finished  details ; 
Trumpington  with  its  lofty  arches,  rich  mouldings 
and  interesting  side  chapels ;  Haslingfield  with  its 
clustered  piers,  elegant  string-courses,  and  handsome 
middle-pointed  roof;  Elsworth  with  its  spacious 
chancel  and  rich  sedilia ;  Over  with  its  beautiful  south 
porch;  Willingham  with  its  remarkable  sacristy  and 
fine  tower  arches ;  and  Haddenham  with  its  noble 
tower  having  circular  windows  enriched  with  alternate 
rows  of  dog-tooth  and  ball-flowers. 

Nor  must  mention  be  omitted  of  St  Mary  the  Less, 
Cambridge — a  simple  parallelogram  like  St  Ethel- 
dreda's,  Ely  Place,  Holborn — abounding  in  exquisite 
late  or  flowing  Decorated  tracery  and  other  details  ; 

316 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE-— continued 

nor  of  Prior  Cranden's  Chapel  at  Ely,  a  curious  and 
valuable  gem  of  the  period,  which  at  one  time  was 
divided  horizontally  into  bedrooms,  but  which,  thanks 
to  the  eminent  dean,  Dr  Peacock,  was  "  restored  " 
sixty  years  ago  i:'to  life  and  use,  and  name  and 
fame."  Other  Cambridgeshire  churches,  enshrining 
portions  of  the  Edwardian  styles,  are  Little  Shelf ord ; 
Fulbourne,  containing  one  of  the  best  fourteenth- 
century  brasses  in  England,  that  of  William  de 
Fulbourne  (d.  1391);  Swaffham  Bulbeck ;  Westley 
Waterless ;  Borough  Green ;  L/andbeach ;  Soham ; 
Downham ;  Chatteris ;  WTisbeach ;  Harlton  ;  Basing- 
bourne ;  Gamlingay;  and  Balsham. 

Before  concluding  this  chapter  on  the  architecture 
of  the  Edwardian  period  I  must  pass  briefly  in  review 
the  state  of  the  arts  of  painting  and  stained  glass. 
Unfortunately,  I  am  unable  to  refer  to  existing 
examples  of  the  former,  as  in  one  way  or  another  they 
have  mostly  perished ;  but  there  is  ample  evidence  to 
prove  that  English  painters  of  this  period  had  attained 
to  a  very  high  position.* 

The  wooden  tombs  with  their  canopies  in  the 
'sacrarium"  of  Westminster  Abbey  were  painted, 
as  was  the  stallwork  of  Chichester  and  Ely  Cathe- 
drals, the  tomb  of  Bishop  de  Luda  in  the  presbytery, 
and  the  groining  of  the  lantern  in  the  latter  cathedral, 
and  the  vault  of  Exeter  Cathedral ;  but  we  have 
nothing  very  definite  of  which  any  remains  are 
preserved,  or  any  records  except  the  paintings  at 

*  It  is  possible  that  the  paintings  on  the  panels  of  some  of  the 
East  Anglian  chancel  screens  may  belong  to  the  later  phases  of 
the  style. 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Westminster  in  the  Painted  Chamber  and  St  Stephen's 
Chapel,  now  both  destroyed.  The  Painted  Chamber 
was  originally  Norman,  and  it  stood  parallel  with  St 
Stephen's  Chapel.  It  was  enlarged  by  Henry  III., 
and  the  walls  were  ordered  by  him  to  be  painted  of  a 
green  colour,  "  as  a  curtain."  In  1263,  after  a  fire, 
paintings  were  ordered  in  the  "  King's  Chamber," 
and  in  his  "  Oratory  and  Oriels,"  which  formed  part 
of  the  "  Great  Chamber." 

Otho  and  Master  William — a  monk  of  Westminster 
—and  Peter  de  Hispania,  were  the  earlier  painters, 
followed  by  Master  WTalter  de  Durham.  These 
paintings  were  executed  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  and 
it  would  appear  that  the  subjects  were  painted,  more 
or  less,  three  times,  the  gilding  especially  being 
renewed.  The  subjects  were  carefully  examined  by 
Stothard,  who  has  left  a  valuable  record  of  them. 
They  represented  Old  Testament  subjects  such  as 
Abimelech,  the  death  of  Sisera,  the  miracles  of 
Elisha,  incidents  in  the  time  of  Hezekiah,  Jehoiakim 
and  the  Maccabees,  the  coronation  of  the  Confessor, 
and  of  King  OfFa,  and  also  female  figures  represent- 
ing the  Virtues  triumphing  over  the  Vices.  All  the 
figures  are,  as  usual,  represented  in  the  costume  of 
the  day,  and  the  architecture  is  of  that  period  ;  all  are 
painted  on  a  ground  of  blue.  They  were  executed  in 
distemper,  and  coated  with  an  oily  varnish. 

The  paintings  in  St  Stephen's  Chapel  were  of 
Edward  lll.'s  time  ;  and  the  records  that  are  preserved 
of  them  by  John  Carter's  and  Stothard 's  drawings 
show  that  they  were  of  the  very  highest  order,  and 
thai  the  interior  of  the  chapel  must  have  presented  a 


ST.      AGNES,     KKNNINGTON      PARK. 

(Modern  example  of  the  l.'ite   I  )<•<  onitfd  M\l< 


To  face  p.  318. 


THE   DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

most  superb  effect.  The  whole  of  the  stonework  was 
painted,  the  grey  marble  bench  table  (or  seat)  all 
round  being  alone  retained  in  its  natural  colour.  A 
sort  of  apple-green,  blue  and  red  was  used  indiffer- 
ently for  hollows  and  projecting  mouldings,  fillets 
were  gilded,  and  the  chief  projecting  mouldings  were 
covered  with  embossed  gilded  patterns  and  beadings, 
while  on  the  columns  and  on  the  coloured  mouldings 
were  laid  or  stamped  paterae  formed  of  a  sort  of 
stucco_,  or  gesso,  gilded.  At  the  east  end,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  altar,  were  represented  Edward  III., 
the  Black  Prince,  and  his  royal  brothers,  richly  clad 
in  armour  and  embroidered  surcoats,  kneeling  and 
gazing  upwards,  with  a  great  picture  above  them 
representing  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi.  On  the 
south  side  were  Queen  Philippa  and  the  princesses, 
kneeling,  while  the  scenes  painted  above  them  repres- 
ented the  Presentation  in  the  Temple  and  the  Nativity. 
The  King  and  Queen  and  their  family  have  a  rich 
arcading  over  them,  painted  in  red  and  gold,  with  an 
architectural  background  painted  on  gold  and  silver. 
The  ground  of  the  great  picture  above  is  a  richly 
embossed  diaper  of  gold. 

All  along  the  sides  of  the  chapel,  under  the  windows 
and  tabernacle-work,  were  represented  angels  holding 
drapery.  They  had  great  wings  of  peacock's  feathers, 
painted  in  red  on  gold,  with  eyes  formed  of  green, 
blue  and  gold.  The  angels  were  vested  in  blue  and 
scarlet,  with  gold  patterns,  and  the  background  was 
dark,  with  gold  stars.  The  figures  were  somewhat 
stiff  and  meagre;  but  the  drapery  was  well  disposed, 
and  was  represented  as  most  richly  embroidered, 

319 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

showing  how  advanced  the  art  of  embroidery  was  in 
the  fourteenth  century.  Above  these  figures  the 
lower  parts  of  the  windows  were  made  to  form  solid 
panels,  on  which  were  painted  most  spirited  represen- 
tations of  incidents  in  the  history  of  Job  and  Tobit. 
Besides  these,  were  paintings,  especially  by  order  of 
the  King,  of  himself  protected  by  St  George,  and 
Queen  Philippa  protected  by  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

It  will  ever  be  a  subject  of  the  keenest  regret  that 
such  glorious  works  no  longer  exist;  we,  however, 
owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  those  who  copied  them  and 
preserved  the  memory  of  them  as  far  back  as  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  I  have  been 
somewhat  diffuse  in  my  description  of  the  decorations 
of  the  chapel  to  show  that,  where  such  work  was  done, 
English  painters  of  the  Decorated  period  were  not  a 
whit  behind  their  brothers  in  other  countries.  St 
Stephen's  Chapel  must  indeed  have  been  one  of  the 
wonders  of  English  architecture  of  this  period. 

The  colours  generally  used  in  English  wall  painting 
were  of  the  commonest  kind,  mostly  earths,  as  in 
fresco,  or  of  some  mineral  origin.  The  chief  were 
colcothar  or  Indian  red,  for  they  are  nearly  the  same, 
red  ochre,  yellow  ochre,  terra  verde,  verditer,  and 
native  cinnabar.  Neither  of  the  two  last  are  used  in 
fresco  painting,  and  verditer — both  blue  and  green, 
are  colours  which  fade  and  change  very  easily.  To 
these  may  be  added  "  lamp  black,"  and  white  made 
from  lime.  Cinnabar,  which  stands  in  the  place  of 
vermilion,  grows  black  in  contact  with  lime,  and  this 
accounts  for  some  reds  turning  quite  black,  probably 
assisted  by  damp.  All  our  earliest  paintings  are 

320 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— con  tinned 

monochromes   or  very   nearly   so.      As  regards  the 
decoration   of  oaken   screens,   of  which   the   eastern 
counties  show  many  fine  examples,  both  "  tempera  " 
and  oil  were  used.     Indeed  the  latter  was  very  much 
employed  in  this  country  in  early  times,  as  our  records 
prove.     But  it  is  very  doubtful  if  this  was  for  any 
delicate  work.     Many  of  the  screens  in  Norfolk  and 
Suffolk  prove  the  influence  of  the  Flemish  artist,  and 
we  know  many  migrations  from  Flanders  took  place, 
bringing   superior    manufactures    and,    doubtless,    a 
superior  art  practice.     If  we  presume  the  use  of  oil 
in  the  painting  of  these  screens,  it  seems  always  to 
have  been  applied  on  a  ground  of  gesso,  just  as  in 
preparation  of  panels  by  painters  of  both  Flemish  and 
Italian  schools.     But  we  cannot  be  sure  that  many 
which  now  seem  to  us  as  painted  in  oil  were  not  first 
executed  in  tempera,   and  afterwards  varnished.     It 
is,    however,    of   little   importance.      But    there    are 
specimens  of  tempera  simply  as  well  as  in  oil,   or 
tempera  varnished.     On  the  screens  we  get  a  superior 
range  of  colours ;  a  finer  blue,   a  brighter  green,   a 
preparation  probably  of  vermilion.     The  gilding   is 
excellent,   and  in  one  or  two  instances,   late  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  stamped  processes  are  used  for  such 
parts  as  the  shafts  of  the  canopy,  executed  with  much 
beauty  and  subtlety.     The  screen  in  Yaxley  Church, 
Suffolk,  offers  an  example. 

In  the  thirteenth  century  the  glass  was  continually 
and  gradually  changing  from  the  deep,  rich-coloured 
mosaic  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  becoming  lighter 
in  tone,  owing  to  the  introduction  of  white  glass  and 
grisaille  work,  This  process  continued  through  the 

321  x 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Decorated  period,  even  though  the  small  windows 
gave  place  to  large  windows  occupying  in  many  cases 
almost  all  the  wall  space. 

The  earlier  specimens  of  the  Decorated  style  are  as 
rich  in  colour  as  the  Early  English,  and  are  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  them  principally  by  their  details.  But 
from  the  end  of  Edward  I.  's  reign  a  progressive  increase 
in  the  use  of  white  glass  may  be  observed,  even  in  the 
richest-coloured  pictures.  As  the  style  advanced,  the 
individual  colours  also  sensibly  diminished  in  depth. 
The  effect  sought  to  be  produced  in  a  Decorated 
window  was  an  opposite  one  to  that  which  was  aimed 
at  during  the  earlier  period  when  the  walls  and  their 
decorations  were  kept  lighter  in  tone,  often  by  means 
of  red  lines  or  patterns  on  a  cream-coloured  ground, 
while  the  windows  were  rich  and  dark  in  colour.  The 
general  characteristics  of  a  Decorated  picture  glass 
painting  is  that  it  is  broader  in  colour  and  less  mosaic 
than  an  Early  English  one,  and  that  its  colouring  is 
also  somewhat  less  intense.  The  men  of  this  period 
gave  dark,  rich  colour  of  red,  green,  and  gold  to  their 
walls  and  architecture,  and  as  much  lightness  in  tone 
as  possible  to  their  glass.  The  picture  windows  of 
this  period  are  generally  figure  and  canopy  windows, 
and  are  easily  distinguished  from  the  Early  English 
by  the  architectural  details  of  the  canopy  work,  which 
is  borrowed  from  sculpture. 

The  figures  are  also  less  classical,  and  their 
draperies  are  more  ample  and  disposed  in  broader  folds 
than  the  Early  English.  White  glass  was  much  used, 
but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  what  represented 
white  was  a  sort  of  light  sea-green  tint,  blending  most 

322 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

happily  with  richer  tones  of  colour.  Glass  of  this  period 
was  not  so  thick  as  early  glass.  "  Pot  metal  "  glass  (a 
yellow  glass  of  one  colour  throughout  the  whole  thick- 
ness) was  replaced  by  glass  with  a  yellow  stain  of  a 
lemon  tint;  and  this  was  largely  used  for  the  archi- 
tectural features  of  the  canopy  work,  such  as  crockets 
and  finials,  and  also  in  the  simpler  quarry  patterns  on 
a  white  ground.  The  patterns  were  of  foliage  and 
animals,  very  naturally  treated. 

Sometimes  the  only  rich  colour  introduced  was  in  a 
shield  of  arms  in  each  light,  as  in  the  noble  Decorated 
chancel  of  Norbury  Church,  Derbyshire.  Here  we 
have  four  boldly  traceried  windows  on  either  side,  of 
three  lights  apiece,  and  one  large  one  of  five  lights  at 
the  east  end  with  tracery  which  has  rather  a  rectilinear 
tendency,  as  the  date  of  this  fine  piece  of  Edwardian 
Gothic  may  be  placed  between  1370  and  1380.  The 
glass  in  this  window  has  been  much  injured  by  being 
first  removed  into  those  of  the  nave  aisles  and  cleres- 
tory, at  the  time  when  the  window  was  walled  up,  and 
by  being  again  replaced  in  its  original  position ;  it 
consists  chiefly  of  full-length  figures  of  the  apostles, 
above  each  of  which  is  a  portion  of  the  Creed  and  a  rich 
canopy. 

The  side  windows,  which  are  perfect  models  for 
imitation  in  the  present  day,  were  beautifully 
delineated  in  colours  by  Bowman  in  his  "  Specimens  of 
the  Ecclesiastical  Architecture  of  Great  Britain  "  in 
1846. 

At  York  Minster,  the  aisle  and  clerestory  windows 
of  the  nave,  belts  of  pictures  in  rich  colours  were  in- 
troduced in  two  tiers,  with  colour  in  the  tracery. 

323 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  figures, 
having  lofty  canopies  over  them,  were  introduced, 
often  with  small  pictures  below  them,  as  in  the  great 
west  window  of  York.  In  these  windows  the  peculiar 
tone  of  the  white  glass,  and  the  yellow  stain  of  the 
canopy  work  is  very  remarkable. 

The   Jesse   windows    of    this   period — those   repre- 
senting the  genealogy  of   our  Lord — are  in    design 
something    extremely    like   the   Early    English,    but 
their  foliage,  instead  of  being  tref oiled  and  conven- 
tional is  natural.     The  vine  leaf  is  that  most  used. 
In    general,    however,    the    form    assumed    by    the 
branches  is  more  varied  and  playful  than  that  of  an 
Early  English  Jesse.     In  the  east  window  of  Wells 
Cathedral — copied   in    1849    by   Henri    Gerente    (the 
distinguished  French  glass  painter)  and  reproduced  by 
his  brother  Alfred  a  few  years  later  in  the  west  window 
of  All  Saints,  Margaret  Street,  London  * — the  vine 
branches  run  quite  across  the  window,  independently 
of  the  mullions.     The  white  pattern  windows,  particu- 
larly the  earlier  ones  have  generally  a  rich  sea-green 
tint  like  the  Early  English ;  their  borders  are,  how- 
ever, almost  invariably  composed  of  naturally  formed 
leaves,  like  crockets  on  ruby  or  blue  grounds,  as  at 
Norbury,  or  of  heraldry,  as  at  Merton  College  Chapel, 
Oxford,  where  there  is  a  series  of  the  most  beautiful 
early  Decorated  stained-glass  windows  in  the  country. 
Heraldry,    indeed,    was   largely   introduced    into  the 
windows  of  this  period,  and  through  it  their  date  in 

*  Gerente "s  glass  in  All  Saints  was  removed  about  forty 
years  ago,  and  the  present  work,  illustrating  the  same  subject, 
substituted. 

324 


JHSSI-:     \\INDO\V,     AI.I.    SAIN  IS    ,     M  AKt ;  \  K  !•:  I     STK'KI-T 


THE   DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

many  cases  may  be  ascertained  with  tolerable 
certainty.  The  ground-work  of  a  Decorated  white 
pattern  window — that  is,  as  soon  as  the  style 
developed  itself,  for  in  the  earlier  phase  of  the  style, 
white  patterns  are  exactly  like  the  Early  English, 
only  less  strongly  drawn — differs  from  that  of  an 
Early  English  white  pattern  in  several  important 
particulars.  Instead  of  an  arrangement  of  panels, 
laid  as  it  were  one  over  the  other,  the  basis  of  a 
Decorated  window  is  a  flowing  scrollwork  of  foliage, 
the  leaves  being  usually  copied  from  the  maple,  ivy, 
or  oak,  over  which  there  appears  to  be  laid,  as  it  were, 
successive  planes  of  interlaced  geometrical  ornaments  y 
which  appear  on  a  careful  examination  to  be  princi- 
pally copied  from  the  borders  of  the  panels  used  in  the 
preceding  style,  though  the  panels  themselves  are  no 
longer  retained. 

The  rich  effect  of  this  arrangement  may  be  seen  in 
the  windows  of  Merton  College  Chapel,  Oxford 
These  white  pattern  windows  were  often  further 
enriched  by  the  insertion  of  small  groups  or  single 
figures  under  canopies,  as  in  the  example  before  named, 
and  in  the  Latin  Chapel  on  the  north  side  of  the  choir 
of  Oxford  Cathedral ;  or  simply  in  panels,  as  in  the 
chapter-house  of  York  Minster,  or  of  shields  of  arms 
as  at  Norbury.  But  in  every  case  it  will  be  observed 
that  the  picture  is  inserted  quite  independent  of  the 
design  of  the  pattern  work  of  the  window.  Patterns 
composed  of  ornamental,  or  as  they  are  technically 
termed  "  flowered  quarries  "  are  not  uncommon.  The 
earlier  quarries  are  generally  banded,  at  least  on  their 
top  sides,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  produce  an  interlaced 

325 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

banded  pattern  apparently  overlaying  the  quarries. 
The  later  quarries  are,  in  general,  not  banded  as  in  the 
library  of  Merton  College,  and  the  form  of  the  orna- 
ment painted  on  them  is  of  a  late  character. 

The  yellow  stain  of  which  mention  has  been  made  of 
being  used  in  this  epoch  of  glass-painting  was  intro- 
duced early  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  was 
profusely  employed  as  early  as  Edward  II. 's  reign. 
Of  this  the  east  window  of  Bristol  Cathedral  is  an 
example.  The  discovery  of  this  means  of  enrich- 
ment tended,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  to  the  adoption 
of  a  broader  style  of  colouring. 

One  of  our  most  perfect  examples  of  fourteenth- 
century  glazing  is  the  east  window  of  Exeter  Cathe- 
dral, representing  figures  of  saints  under  canopies.  It 
was  removed  from  the  original  window,  which  was  in 
all  probability  geometrical  Decorated,  and  rearranged 
in  the  present  fine  example  of  early  Perpendicular 
work. 

Although  but  scanty  fragments  now  remain,  the 
aisle  and  clerestory  windows  of  Exeter  Cathedral 
were  once  rich  in  old  stained  glass.  The  fabric  rolls 
testify  to  the  persistency  of  Bishop  Stapledon  in  carry- 
ing out  this  work  between  1308  and  1319,  so  that  we 
are  able  to  verify  almost  every  window,  what  it  cost, 
and  the  proportion  of  pattern  to  figured  glass ; 
generally  one-fourth.  The  nave  was  glazed  early  in 
the  fifteenth  century.  Here  the  general  tint  was 
golden,  while  that  in  the  choir  was  silvery — a 
variation  which  must  have  produced  a  charming 
effect.  The  work  would  appear  to  have  been  accom- 
plished in  Bishop  Lucy's  day  (1420-55). 

326 


THE   DECORATED   STYLE— continued 

The  glass  in  the  windows  in  the  nave  clerestory  was 
in  a  bold  pattern  of  floral  grisaille.  It  was  fixed  just 
after  the  discovery  of  the  stain,  and  the  painters  in 
their  delight  at  using  a  new  material  were  rather 
prone  to  excess  in  its  application.  Vestiges  of  this 
glass  are  still  in  situ  on  the  south  side.  In  the 
clerestory  of  the  choir  one  window  only  remains  on  the 
north  side.  It  has  figures  and  canopies  placed  upon 
a  background  of  grisaille,  and  is  a  good  example  of 
early  fourteenth-century  work. 

A  fellow  window  to  it,  originally  belonging  to  the 
north  side  of  the  choir  and  differing  from  the  other  in 
having  smear  instead  of  stippled  shading,  was  dis- 
covered at  the  time  of  the  restoration  (1871-76)  of  the 
cathedral,  packed  away  in  a  muniment  room  and  has 
since  been  ruthlessly  destroyed  to  patch  other  windows 
with. 

The  seven  windows  in  the  choir  and  apse  of  Tewkes- 
bury  Abbey  contain  some  of  the  finest  late  Decorated 
stained  glass  in  the  kingdom.  One  of  these,  a  four- 
light  window,  with  curvilinear  tracery,  contains  as 
many  figures  of  knights,*  some  in  mail  and  others  in 
plaited  armour,  standing  under  ogee  arches  crowned 
with  spiral  canopies  in  which  much  white  glass  is 
used,  and  which  mount  up  to  the  heads  of  the  lights 
with  for  background  a  rich  ruby.  Gold  is  used  for 
some  of  the  architectural  accessories  as  well  as  for  the 
narrow  borders  in  the  foliated  heads  of  the  lights.  In 
the  borders  following  the  mullions  is  a  series  of  crocket- 
like  ornaments  on  a  ruby  ground. 

These  figures  are  extremely  valuable  as  giving  accurate  repre- 
sentation of  the  armour  and  knightly  gear  of  the  time. 

327 


The  four  figures  stand  out  effectively  from  alter- 
nately blue  and  pale  green  grounds,  and  below  each 
figure  is  a  considerable  expanse  of  white  glass 
patterned  with  diamond-shaped  figures  charged  with 
flowers,  thus  giving  great  emphasis  to  the  figures. 
The  scrolls  of  white  vine  leaves  on  a  brilliant  ruby 
ground  in  the  tracery  openings  are  singularly 
beautiful. 

The  central  window  of  the  apse,  which  has  five 
lights  supporting  a  traceried  circle,  represents  the 
Last  Judgment.  In  the  centre  our  Lord  is  depicted 
with  uplifted  hands  on  which  are  the  stigmata  of  the 
Passion.  The  glass  in  the  side  lights,  from  its 
unsymmetrical  arrangement  appears  to  have  been  re- 
arranged or  rather  disarranged  at  some  time.  The 
Apostles  would  naturally  be  grouped  on  either  side, 
in  the  outer  lights.  The  other  two  lights  represent 
St  John  and  the  Blessed  Virgin.  Of  these  figures, 
the  heads,  which  are  modern,  were  inserted  in  1828  by 
Collins,  one  of  the  glass  painters  of  that  period  who 
helped  to  keep  the  art  alive.*  In  the  five  panels  below 
the  figures,  are  groups  of  persons  arising  from  their 
graves,  one  group  representing-  an  angel  disputing 
with  the  devil  for  the  possession  of  three  persons  bound 
with  a  chain.  At  the  bottom  are  armorial  bearings. 

In  the  two-light  east  window  of  the  north  aisle  of 
Cockayne  Hatley  Church,  Bedfordshire,  is  a  very 
charming  specimen  of  early  Decorated  glass,  trans- 

*  He  executed  some  glass  in  St  John's,  Walworth,  which  was 
presented  to  that  building  by  its  architect,  Sir  John  Soane,  in 
commemoration  of  its  being  the  first  church  built  by  him  in  the 
long  course  of  his  professional  career. 

328 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

ferred  hither  from  a  church  in  Yorkshire  and 
containing,  under  conventional  middle  pointed 
canopies,  small  figures  of  SS.  Sebald,  Edmund, 
Dunstan  and  Oswald. 

Other  specimens  of  mid -fourteenth  century  glass 
painting  are  the  three  central  windows  in  the  apse  of 
Westminster  Abbey;  the  Tree  of  Jesse  in  the  east 
window  of  St  Mary's,  Shrewsbury  * ;  in  the  heads  of 
three  early  fourteenth-century  windows  in  the  north 
aisle  of  St  Lawrence  Ludow ;  a  Jesse  window  in  the 
Lady  Chapel ;  and  some  remains  worked  in  admirably 
with  Perpendicular  glass  in  the  south  transept  window 
of  the  same  church ;  the  east  window  of  Bristol 
Cathedral,  restored  and  supplemented  in  1847;  an^ 
the  Last  Judgment  in  the  tracery  of  the  east  window 
at  Carlisle.  Selby  Abbey,  previous  to  the  disastrous 
fire  of  1906,  possessed  a  superb  "  Tree  of  Jesse  "  in 
the  east  window  of  its  choir,  which  not  many  years 
before  had  been  conservatively  restored  and,  where 
necessary,  supplemented  by  Mr  Thomas  Curtis  (the 
present  representative  of  Messrs  Ward  &  Hughes). 
It  is  satisfactory  to  state  that  this  Jesse  has  since  been 
reproduced,  together  with  the  Doom  (which  as  at 
Carlisle  occupies  the  tracery),  in  the  restored  east 
window  of  Selby  Abbey. 

If  there  was  one  age  of  church  architecture  more 
glorious  than  the  rest,  it  was  the  fourteenth  century. 
It  was  the  climax  beyond  which  Christian  art  was 
never  carried.  Though  all  that  riches,  devoted  piety, 

*  This  glass  was  brought  from  St  Chad's  when  that  church  wa3 
rebuilt  in  its  present  pseudo-classical  form  at  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century. 

329 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

and  sublime  talents  could  effect  was  done  to  sustain 
its  consummate  excellence,  it  followed  the  universal 
law,  and  having  once  reached  perfection  began  gradu- 
ally to  decline.  We,  who  see  nothing  around  us  but 
the  wrecks  of  ancient  art,  have  some  difficulty  in 
forming  an  accurate  idea  of  the  extreme  architectural 
and  decorative  magnificence  which  prevailed  at  this 
period.  It  may,  however,  be  fearlessly  asserted  that 
not  only  were  the  abbeys  and  the  cathedrals  of 
gorgeous  beauty  and  wealth  incalculable,  but  every 
parish  church  was  proportionately  adorned.  Let  us 
step,  for  example  of  the  former  class  of  sacred  edifices, 
into  the  Lady  Chapel,  that  great  oblong  building  now 
called  Trinity  Church  which  adjoins  the  north  tran- 
sept of  Bly  Cathedral.  Examine  any  one  of  its 
hundred  canopied  seats  which  line  the  walls  below  the 
vast  windows ;  but  your  enraptured  gaze  must  dwell 
for  an  hour  upon  it  before  you  can  comprehend  its 
beauties,  or  your  eye  can  scan  the  whole  of  its  exuber- 
ant details.  Look  first  at  the  exquisite  mouldings 
and  panellings  of  the  polished  Purbeck  shafts  and 
buttresses  below ;  then  admire  the  minute  images,  the 
crisp  bunches  of  hollow  foliage,  carved  like  ivory 
balls  with  almost  microscopic  nicety.  Lastly,  see  the 
thick  flakes  of  gold  which  overlay  them,  and  the 
bright  varied  colouring  which  may  yet  be  traced  under 
the  coats  of  modern  whitewash.  Then  view  the 
spangled  vault  once  glowing  with  stars  and  golden 
bosses ;  the  windows  which  were  filled  with  the  richest 
stained  glass,  as  their  scanty  and  obliterate  fragments 
still  attest ;  observe  the  countless  compartments  of 
tracery  within  tracery,  and  canopy  above  canopy, 

33° 


which  climb  even  to  the  ceiling.  The  vestiges  of 
ancient  workmanship,  which  have  not  been  hewn  away 
by  the  axe  and  the  chisel,  must  be  minutely  observed 
if  the  mind  would  truly  realise  the  splendour  which 
the  eye  now  desiderates.  Again,  imagine  Lincoln 
Cathedral  or  Westminster  Abbey  in  its  glory.  There 
are  many  parts  of  these,  and  indeed  of  every  cathedral 
where  a  single  square  yard  of  sculptured  detail 
exhibits  the  labour  of  months ;  where  a  niche  or  a 
canopy,  or  a  moulded  base  must  have  been  the  task  of 
many  a  long  and  toilsome  week.  The  aggregate  cost 
of  any  one  such  building  would  now  be  almost  in- 
credible. Take  the  first  of  that  long  series  of  high 
tombs,  with  its  panellings,  its  canopies,  its  effigies  ;  the 
jewelled  mitre  and  ring ;  the  embroidered  orphrey ; 
the  gilded  crocket ;  look  up  under  the  dark  canopy ; 
there  is  gold  and  colour  and  intricate  groining; 
though  man's  eye  was  never  likely  to  behold  it. 

The  pavement  was  once  of  coloured  tiles,  or  mosaics, 
in  which  an  hundred  latten  effigies  and  crosses  shone 
resplendent.  You  may  still  see  the  marble  shafts 
bereft  of  their  metal ;  the  boss  faint  with  its  faded 
gold ;  the  canopy  deprived  of  its  silver  saint ;  the 
window  without  its  ancient  hues  or  with  but  a  few 
fragments  alone  telling  of  its  former  glory.  Go  again 
to  the  village  church.  In  the  time  of  the  Edwards 
alone,  thousands  of  these  were  built  throughout  the 
land,  but  perhaps  none  more  beautiful  or  so  rich  in 
detail  as  in  Lincolnshire.  It  is  certain  and  may  be 
proved  by  actual  examination  in  numberless  instances 
that  even  these,  however  remote,  generally  possessed 
the  most  exquisite  decorations. 


In  the  foregoing  pages  we  have  taken  a  view  of  that 
wonderful  succession  of  glories  which  followed  the 
course  of  ecclesiastical  architecture  in  England  from 
the  arrival  of  St  Augustine  towards  the  close  of  the 
sixth  century  to  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  in  the  middle 
of  the  fourteenth. 

Among  persons  of  differently  constituted  minds 
almost  every  variety  may,  to  one  or  another,  seem  the 
point  of  perfection ;  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  arrive  at  a  certain  conclusion  on 
such  a  question. 

There  is  perhaps  only  one  way  of  ascertaining  the 
true  position  of  that  culminating  point  which  we  all 
wish  to  discover,  and  that  is  by  carefully  studying  the 
differences  to  be  traced  out  in  the  courses  taken  by 
pointed  architecture  in  the  various  countries  in  which 
it  most  flourished ;  and  by  observing  whether  they 
differed  throughout,  or  had  any  points  in  common; 
and  what  theory  seems  to  bring  the  apparent  points 
of  perfection  attained  in  each  country,  most  nearly 
to  a  chronological  coincidence. 

This  leads  us  to  a  result  which  seems  to  promise 
much,  though  after  all  it  is  difficult  to  say  how  far  we 
can,  with  certainty,  test  its  value. 

The  series  of  changes,  from  the  early  Romanesque 
to  the  establishment  of  pointed  architecture  at  the 
close  of  the  twelfth  century,  differs  materially  in  all 
the  different  countries  of  Europe,  Germany  being  the 
most  behind  in  this  accomplishment.  All,  however, 
seem  gradually  to  approach  nearer  and  nearer  to  one 
another,  till,  towards  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, when  all  appear  to  have  arrived,  in  the  main  at 

332 


u 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— con  tinned 

least,  at  the  same  point ;  and  though  some  differences 
still  remained,  as  might  be  expected,  from  slight 
varieties  in  climate,  and  materials,  and  racial  habits, 
the  essential  principles  and  elements  of  the  style 
were  perfectly  coincident  in  France,  Germany  and 
England,  if  we  compare  three  such  great  representa- 
tive works  as  the  Angel  Choir  of  Lincoln  Cathedral, 
the  Sainte  Chapelle  at  Paris,  and  the  choir  of  the 
Cathedral  at  Cologne. 

This  coincidence,  however,  was  of  short  duration, 
for  from  this  point  all  again  diverged,  so  that  at  the 
time  of  the  final  extinction  of  the  style  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  its  national 
varieties  differed,  as  widely  as  at  its  commence- 
ment. 

France  had  produced  the  Flamboyant,  which  in  its 
earlier  stages  is  rich,  varied,  and  imposing.  But  in 
many  instances  it  is  remarkable  how  much  the  interest 
falls  off  towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
how  very  poor  and  meagre  it  becomes  when  it  is 
worked  plain. 

In  Germany,  the  flamboyant  of  that  country  ran  riot 
into  fantasticality,  and  in  the  works  of  the  later  stages 
of  the  style — however  much  it  may  fascinate  the 
lover  of  the  picturesque — it  is  impossible  to  avoid  the 
thought  that  religious  feeling  had  given  way  to  human 
ingenuity,  and  that  the  whole  vigour  and  beauty  of  the 
art  were  emaciated  by  constant  strivings  after  new  and 
whimsical  combinations. 

England  produced  a  style  of  her  own — the  Perpen- 
dicular— inferior  to  none  in  Gothic  principle,  and 
surpassing  every  other  in  the  matchless  beauty  of 

333 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

its  detail,  and  this  she  well  sustained  until  the  epoch 
of  the  Reformation. 

This  style  may  well  be  the  pride  of  Englishmen ; 
for  not  only  is  it  almost  exclusively  our  own,  but  it  has 
produced  a  train  of  cathedrals,  abbeys,  collegiate  and 
royal  chapels,  town  and  village  churches,  among  the 
most  glorious  our  land  can  boast. 

Almost  nine-tenths  of  our  most  magnificent 
churches  owe  their  chiefest  beauties  to  this  style ;  and 
with  whatever  variety  of  pointed  architecture  it  is 
brought  into  contact,  its  merits  shine  forth  pre- 
eminently, and  so  far  from  suffering,  gain  additional 
lustre  by  the  comparison. 

A  period  of  architecture  which  gave  us  the  choirs 
of  Gloucester  and  York ;  the  naves  of  Canterbury  and 
Winchester ;  the  central  towers  of  Canterbury  and 
Gloucester;  King's  College  Chapel,  Cambridge;  St 
George's  at  Windsor  and  Henry  VII. 's  at  West- 
minster ;  those  glorious  galaxies  of  churches  in  East  and 
West  Anglia ;  the  roodlofts,  the  stalls,  the  chantries, 
and  other  additions  to,  and  embellishments  of,  our 
churches  of  previous  epochs,  is  one  of  which  we  may 
be  justly  proud.  Lasting  from  1350  to  1530 — a 
longer  time  than  the  Early  English  and  the  Decorated 
put  together,  it  was  the  handiwork  of  men  of  acute 
wit  and  strong  understanding — great  churchmen  and 
statesmen  and  kings — men,  who  while  living  were 
justly  held  in  proudest  esteem,  and  whose  names  in 
history  rank  high  in  the  bead-roll  of  English  worthies. 

In  all  that  I  have  said  in  this  book,  I  have  tried  to 
give  the  motives  and  characteristics  of  English  art 
discernible  in  the  earlier  phases,  and  it  is  with  the 

334 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

greatest  regret  that  prescribed  limits  *  preclude  my 
more  fully  declaring  them  in  the  full-grown  "com- 
plete Gothic  "  of  the  Perpendicular,  that  style  which" 
is  the  outcome  of  our  insularity — the  English  of  the 
English. 

If  we  would  know  the  whole  art-power  of  mediaeval 
England,  in  proportional  lines,  in  decoration,  stone- 
groining,  wooden  roofs,  stalls,  reredoses,  screens,  glass 
and  sculpture  of  all  kinds,  we  must  turn  to  the  art  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  In  brief,  the  Perpendicular 
period  is  the  crown  and  culmination  of  a  long  series  of 
effort.  It  is  the  harvest-time  of  all  our  mediaeval 
endeavour.  For  in  English  Gothic,  as  in  Nature, 
there  are  three  phases  of  development,  first  the  blade, 
then  the  ear,  and  afterwards  the  full  corn  in  the  ear. 

A  list  of  some  of  the  best  examples  of  the  English 
Decorated  style  (1270-1350). 

Aumsby  Church,  Lincolnshire. 

Beverley  Minster,  nave. 

Birchington  Church,  Kent,  nave  arcades  and  chancel 
arch. 

*  In  a  future  volume  I  hope  to  do  as  full  justice  to  this  latest 
phase  of  English  Gothic  architecture  as  I  have  done  to  the  earlier 
ones,  tracing  its  development  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury through  its  decline  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  sixteenth,  to  its 
debasement  and  admixture  with  classical  details  under  the 
vStuarts.  I  shall  also  endeavour  to  show  how,  that  although  the 
true  principles  of  Gothic  architecture  were  ignored  or  forgotten  for 
nearly  three  centuries,  English  love  for  it  never  completely  died 
out,  but  was  kept  alive  until  a  diligent  study  of  it,  allied  with 
other  causes,  has  produced  in  our  own  times  a  train  of  cathedrals 
and  churches  which  vie  with,  if  they  cannot  excel,  those  of 
mediaeval  days. 

335 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Bishopstone  Church,  Wiltshire. 

Bitton  Church,  Gloucestershire,  sedilia. 

Boston,  St  Botolph,  chancel,  nave  arcades. 

Bristol  Cathedral,  choir,  central  tower,  revestry. 

Bristol,  St  Mary,  Redclyffe,  tower  and  north  porch. 

Canterbury  Cathedral,  screens  round  choir,  Arch- 
bishop Peckham's  monument. 

Canterbury,  gateway  to  St  Augustine's  College. 

Carlisle  Cathedral,  portions  of  the  choir. 

Charing  Church,  Kent. 

Chester  Cathedral,  choir  and  south  transept. 

Cley-next-the-Sea,  St  Margaret's,  Norfolk,  nave  and 
south  transept. 

Chichester  Cathedral,  Lady  Chapel,  window  in  south 
transept,  spire  (rebuilt  1861-66). 

Cotterstock  Church,  Northants. 

Crick  Church,  Northants. 

Dersingham  Church,  Norfolk. 
Dorchester  Abbey,  Oxon. 

Durham  Cathedral,  upper  parts  of  Chapel  of  the 
Nine  Altars. 

East  Dereham  Church,  Norfolk,  central  tower. 
Eleanor   Crosses    at   Geddington    and    Northampton, 

that  at  Waltham  has  been  much  restored. 
Ely    Cathedral,    octagon,    choir    (first    three    bays), 

Trinity  Chapel. 
Ely,  Prior  Crawden's  Chapel. 
Etchingham  Church,  Sussex. 
Ewerby  Church,  Lincolnshire. 
Finedon  Church,  Northants. 

336 


IIHST1.K    AHBKY         11I1-;     KAST     I-.NO    Ul-M-'OKli     KKS  1  OK  A  i  1O\ . 

(l-'roin   l>ritlon\  "  . \rcliitcctural  Antiquities.") 


To  face  p.  336. 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

Gaddesby  Church,  Leicestershire,  west  end  of  south 

aisle. 

Gedney  Church,  Lincolnshire. 
Gloucester  Cathedral,  south  aisle  of  nave,  tomb  of 

Edward  II. 

Grantham  Church,  Lincolnshire,  greater  portion. 
Guisborough  Abbey,  Yorkshire. 

Harlton  Church,  Cambridgeshire. 

Heckington  Church,  Lincolnshire. 

Hedon,  Yorkshire,  St  Augustine's,  nave. 

Hereford   Cathedral,    central  tower,   north   transept, 

windows  in  aisles  of  nave  and  choir,  entrance  to 

the  chapter-house. 
Herne  Church,  Kent,  tower. 
Higham  Ferrers  Church,  Northants. 
Hingham  Church,  Norfolk. 
Holbeach  Church,  Lincolnshire, 
Howden  Church,  Yorkshire. 
Hull,  Holy  Trinity,  chancel. 

Isle  Abbot's  Church,  Somerset. 
King's  Lynn,  St  Margaret's,  chancel. 

Leicester,  St  Margaret's,  nave  and  aisles  ;  St  Martin's, 

additional  south  aisle  of  nave;  St  Mary's,  south 

nave. 

Leverington  Church,  Cambridgeshire. 
Lichfield   Cathedral,    nave,   west   front,   eastern   and 

upper  parts  of  choir. 
Lincoln    Cathedral,     "  angel    choir,"    upper    part   of 

central  tower,  south  transept  window,  cloisters. 
337  Y 


A  GUIDE  TO  GOTHIC  ARCHITECTURE 

Milton  Abbey,  Dorset. 

Milton  Keynes  Church,  Buckinghamshire. 

Nantwich    Church,    Cheshire,    the    greater    portion, 

sedilia. 

Newark,  St  Mary  Magdalene's. 
Norbury  Church,  Derbyshire,  chancel. 
Northfleet  Church,  Kent. 
Norwich  Cathedral,  cloisters. 

Old  Walsingham  Church,  Norfolk. 
Ottery  St  Mary,  Devon,  Lady  Chapel. 
Oxford  Cathedral,  Latin  Chapel. 
Oxford,  tower  and  spire  of  St  Mary's  Church,  south 
aisle  of  St  Mary  Magdalene's. 

Ringstead  Church,  Northants. 
Ripon  Cathedral,  eastern  part  of  choir. 
Rochester    Cathedral,    doorway    to   present   chapter- 
house. 

St  Albans  Cathedral,   five  bays  of  the  nave  on  the 
south  side,  presbytery,  and  Lady  Chapel. 

St  David's  Cathedral,  choir  screen. 

Salisbury  Cathedral,  upper  portions  of  tower,  spire. 

Selby  Abbey,  Yorkshire,  choir. 

Shottesbroke  Church,  Oxon. 

Snettisham  Church,  Norfolk. 

South wark  Cathedral,  south  transept. 

Southwell     Cathedral,     chapter-house,     choir-screen, 
sedilia. 

Stafford,  St  Mury,  chancel. 

Staindrop  Church,  Durham,  windows  in  south  aisle. 

Sutton  St  Michael  Church,  Norfolk. 

338 


THE    DECORATED    STYLE— continued 

Temple  Balsall  Church,  Warwickshire. 

Tewkesbury  Abbey,  clerestory  and  chapels  of  choir, 

tomb  of  Hugh  De  Spencer. 
Tiltey  Abbey,  Essex. 

Waltham  Abbey,  Lady  Chapel. 

Wantage,  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  tower  arches. 

Wells  Cathedral,  upper  part  of  central  tower,  eastern 

part  of  choir,  Lady  Chapel,  chapter-house. 
Westminster     Abbey,     upper     parts     of     transepts, 

cloisters,  monuments  of  Queen  Philippa,  Countess 

Evelina,  and  Aylmer  de  Valence. 
Whisendine  Church,  Rutlandshire,  tower. 
Winchelsea  Church,  Sussex. 
Woodborough  Church,  Notts,  chancel. 
Wymington  Church,  Bedfordshire. 

Yarmouth,  Great,  St  Nicholas,  south  nave,  sedilia  and 
piscina  in  south  chancel. 


339 


YAn.TKI)    Al'SF,    ST.    I'FTKR    S,    YArXMAI.L 
(|.    L.    I'IMI-MIM,     \ivhitcrt,     iSi,.).) 


GLOSSARY 


Abacus,  the  upper  portion  of 
the  capital  of  a  column, 
upon  which  the  weight  to 
be  carried  rests. 

Apse,  a  semicircular  or  poly- 
gonal termination  to,  or 
projection  from,  a  church. 

Arcade,  a  range  of  arches 
supported  on  piers  or 
columns,  either  open,  or 
closed  with  masonry. 

Architrave,  a  term  applied  to 
the  ornamental  moulding 
running  round  the  interior 
curve  of  an  arch,  and  hence 
applied  to  the  mouldings 
round  the  openings  of  doors, 
windows,  etc. 


B 


Ball  flower,  an  ornament  in 
architecture,  used  chiefly  in 
the  fourteenth  century,  and 
resembling  a  ball  placed  in 
a  circular  flower,  the  three 
petals  of  which  form  a  cup 
round  it. 

Barrel-vaulting,  a  simple  form 
of  tunnel-like  vaulting,  de- 
riving its  name  from  its 
resemblance  to  half  a  barrel, 
or  to  the  tilt  often  seen  over 
large  wagons.  It  is  used 
mostly  in  the  architecture  of 
Southern  France. 

Bar-tracery,  that  in  which  the 
tracery  of  the  window- 


head  forms  a  continuation 
of  the  mullions.  The  suc- 
cessor of  Plate  tracery,  in 
which  the  lights  of  a  win- 
dow and  the  tracery  appear 
as  though  pierced  in  a  stone 
panel,  quite  unconnected 
with  one  another. 

Base  course,  the  lowest  course 
of  masonry  of  a  wall  or  a 
pier. 

Bay,  a  principal  compart- 
ment or  division  in  the 
architectural  arrangement  ot 
a  building,  marked  either  by 
the  buttresses  or  pilasters 
in  the  walls ;  by  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  main  ribs  of  the 
vaulting  of  the  interior;  by 
the  main  arches  and  pillars 
when  the  roof  is  of  wood, 
or  by  any  other  leading  fea- 
tures that  separate  it  into 
corresponding  portions.  In 
a  modern  English  church, 
five  is  the  average  number 
of  bays. 

Bell,  that  part  of  the  capital 
of  a  column  between  the 
necking  and  the  abacus, 
and  which  is  either  left 
plain  or  enriched  with  carv- 
ing. 

Bench  table,  a  low  seat  of 
stone  on  the  inside  of  the 
walls  of  churches.  It  is 
also  to  be  found  in  porches, 
cloisters,  passages  to 
chapter-houses,  and  round 
pillars. 


341 


GLOSSARY 


Billet,  one  of  a  series  of  short, 
cylindrical,  projecting  mem- 
bers in,  or  forming  a  mould- 
ing, its  axis  being  parallel 
with  the  general  surface  and 
with  the  direction  of  the 
series. 

Boss,  a  projecting  mass  of 
carving  placed  to  conceal 
the  intersection  of  the  ribs 
of  a  vaulted  roof. 

Bowtell,  an  old  English  term 
for  a  round  moulding,  or 
head. 

Brass,  a  monumental  plate  of 
brass,  or  the  mixed  metal 
anciently  called  latten,  in- 
laid on  large  slabs  of  stone, 
which  usually  form  part  of 
the  pavement  of  the  church, 
and  representing  in  their 
outline,  or  by  the  lines  en- 
graved upon  them,  the 
figure  of  the  deceased.  The 
earliest  known  English 
brass  is  in  Stoke  d'Abernon 
Church,  Surrey. 

Broach,  an  old  English  term 
for  a  spire  generally,  but 
mostly  used  to  denote  a 
.spire  springing  from  the 
tower  without  any  inter- 
mediate parapet.  A  "broach 
spire  "  is  an  octagonal 
one,  erected  on  a  square 
base,  requiring  therefore 
some  architectural  device 
to  collect  its  eight  sides 
on  the  four  faces  of  the 
tower,  and  to  avoid  that 
abruptness  which  would 
arise  from  so  sudden  a 
change  from  the  square  to 
the  octagon.  It  is  usually 
in  tlie  form  of  a  triangular 
slab  of  stone  tapering  till 
it  touches  the  oblique  side 
of  the  spire. 


Cable,  a  form  of  moulding 
resembling  a  rope  or  cable 
and  occasionally  employed 
in  the  Romanesque  architec- 
ture of  the  twelfth  century 
in  the  decoration  of  arches. 

Canted  bay  or  wall,  that 
which  makes  an  oblique 
angle  with  adjoining  parts, 
especially  a  slope  of  con- 
siderable relative  extent. 

Capital,  the  head  of  a  circular 
column,  an  oblong  or  square 
pier,  or  a  pilaster  (called  in 
Gothic  work  a  "  respond  "). 

Chcvet,  strictly  speaking,  the 
French  term  for  a  circular 
or  polygonal  east  end  hav- 
ing an  aisle  round  it  and 
chapels  radiating  there- 
from— French  ecclesiologists 
generally  use  the  word  to 
denote  the  eastern  limb  of 
a  diurch  whether  round  or 
square-ended.  The  word 
is  derived  from  the  Latin 
caput  (head)  and  in  explana- 
tion of  this  etymology  it 
may  be  said  that  the  chevet 
(pillow)  of  a  church  corres- 
ponds with  that  part  of  the 
cross  on  which  Christ  laid 
or  pillowed  His  head. 

Chevron,  an  ornamental  unit 
resembling  an  inverted  V. 

Chorus  Cantorum,  the  pecu- 
liar arrangement  when  the 
ground-plan  exhibits  only  a 
nave  and  sanctuary  or  recess 
for  the  altar,  and  the  stalls 
for  the  singers,  etc.  are 
therefore  locally  in  the  nave. 
In  a  cruciform  church — 
particularly  a  Norman  ono 
\vhere  the  eastern  limb  is 
usually  short — the  chorus 
cantorum  is  usually  formed 
within  the  arches  of  the 
central  tower.  This  arrange- 


342 


GLOSSARY 


ment  is  still  retained  in 
several  of  our  cathedrals, 
where  the  eastern  arm  has 
never  (been  lengthened  in 
later  times. 

Cinquefoil,  a  figure  of  five 
equal  segments,  the  form  of 
which  is  derived  from  the 
leaf  of  a  plant  so  called. 
It  is  used  for  the  cusping 
of  circles  in  thirteenth 
and  early  fourteenth-century 
Gothic  work. 

Circle,  many  figures  in  Chris- 
tian design  were  constructed 
on  the  principle  of  a  circle, 
which  has  always  been  con- 
sidered as  an  emblem  of 
Heaven.  Hence  the  circu- 
lar is  the  most  proper  form 
for  a  window  intended  to 
represent  the  Majesty 
(q.v.),  the  Adoration  of 
the  Lamb,  or  the  rota- 
tion of  the  seasons  which 
are  constantly  returning, 
and  many  other  subjects 
which  are  found  in  the 
great  wheel  windows  of  the 
foreign  pointed  churches. 

Clerestory,  the  upper  story  or 
row  of  windows  lighting 
the  nave  of  a  Romanesque 
or  a  pointed  Gothic  church. 
The  term  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  generally  used  by 
writers  on  ecclesiastical 
architecture  until  early  in 
the  last  century.  In  all  prob- 
ability it  is  a  coined  word. 

Cloister,  a  covered  way 
round  a  quadrangle  of  a 
cathedral,  monastic,  or  col- 
legiate church  ;  connecting 
it  with  the  subsidiary  build- 
ings. 

Conch,  the  semicircle  formed 
by  the  roof  of  an  apse, 
often  made  a  field  for  the 
artist  in  mosaic  or  fresco. 

Corbel,  a  shaft  attached  to  a 


wall  or  to  an  isolated  col- 
umn to  receive  the  groining 
ribs.  Frequently  it  assumes 
the  form  of  a  bunch  of  foli- 
aged  ornament  and  is  em- 
ployed as  a  respond  (q.v.) 
at  either  extremity  of  a 
range  of  columns  and 
arches. 

Corinthian,  the  Lightest  and 
most  ornamental  of  the 
three  (or  as  some  say  five) 
orders  of  classical  architec- 
ture. The  capital  by  which 
the  order  is  distinguished 
consists  of  two  annular 
rows  of  eight  leaves,  at- 
tached to  the  bell  with  an- 
gular volutes  springing 
from  the  caulicoli,  sup- 
ported by  leaves  on  either 
side.  In  the  centre,  be- 
tween the  angular  volutes, 
are  two  smaller  spirals, 
which  also  spring  from  the 
caulicoli,  called  helices  or 
urelloa.  The  sides  of  the 
abacus  are  concave,  With 
the  exterior  range,  called 
the  horns,  taken  off,  and 
often  much  ornamented. 
The  shaft  or  column  itself 
is  fluted  and  rests  on  a  base. 
The  term  Corinthianesquc 
is  applied  to  that  kind  of 
capital  which  was  so  much 
used  in  France  in  the  Gothic 
work  of  the  twelfth  century, 
and  of  which  we  have  a 
most  striking  illustration  in 
the  choir  of  Canterbury 
Cathedral.  The  Corin- 
thianesque  capital  is  best 
seen  in  Southern  France, 
in  the  portals  of  St  Tro- 
phime  at  Aries,  and  St 
Gillcs  in  Provence,  and  in 
Burgundy  in  the  Cathe- 
drals of  Aurun  and  Langres. 

Crockets,  projecting  leaves, 
flowers  as  bunches  of  foli- 


343 


GLOSSARY 


age  used  in  Gothic  archi- 
tecture to  decorate  the 
angles  of  spires,  pinnacles, 
canopies,  gables  over 
arches,  etc.  They  are  gen- 
erally modelled  from  vege- 
table productions,  but  occa- 
sionally animals  and  figures 
are  introduced.  The  most 
beautiful  crockets  consist  of 
vine  or  other  leaves,  with 
a  pointed  or  varied  outline, 
which  are  either  represented 
doubled  as  lying  on  a 
ridge,  or  extended  along 
the  edge.  The  latter  are 
usually  termed  square 
crockets,  but  their  type  is 
the  same  as  the  pointed, 
only  in  one  case  the  leaf 
is  seen  in  profile,  and  in 
the  other  it  is  flat  and  open. 

Cradle  roof,  a  pointed  or  an- 
gular roof  which  is  not 
divided  by  groining  ribs 
into  cells,  and  when  not 
ceiled  shows  rafters  placed 
with  very  little  distance  be- 
tween them. 

Crossing,  a  term  invented  by 
Dr  Whewell  (Master  of 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
[d.  1866],  and  one  of  the 
earliest  writers  on  ecclesias- 
tical architecture  on  its  re- 
vival in  the  last  century)  to 
describe  the  space  between 
the  four  arms  of  a  cruciform 
church.  When  this  space  is 
surmounted  by  a  tower,  open 
for  a  considerable  distance 
to  the  interior,  it  is  styled  a 
lantern,  as  e.g.  the  central 
towers  of  Canterbury,  St 
David's,  Durham,  Lincoln 
and  York ;  Coutances, 
Notre-Dame,  Dijon,  Laon 
and  Rouen ;  Gelnhausen, 
Limburg  on  Lahn,  Neuss, 
Mayence,  and  Tournai. 

Cushion     capital,     a    type    of 


capital  common  in  Roman- 
esque work  (tenth  century 
to  thirteenth  century),  in 
England  and  Germany,  and 
to  some  extent  in  France, 
having  an  approximately 
cubical  form  with  the  lower 
part  rounded  off  to  meet  the 
shaft,  and  a  moulded 
abacus. 

Cusps,  the  projecting  points 
forming  the  foliations  in 
pointed  Gothic  tracery, 
arches,  arcades,  etc.  They 
came  into  use  during  the 
first  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  at  which  period 
they  were  worked  with  a 
leaf,  usually  a  trefoil,  at  the 
end. 


D 


Decagon,  a  building  having 
ten  sides.  The  Early  Eng- 
lish chapter-house  at  Lin- 
coln is  in  this  form. 

Decorated,  a  name  applied  by 
Rickman  (one  of  the  early 
writers  on  church  architec- 
ture on  its  revival)  to  de- 
note the  period  comprised 
(roughly)  between  1270  and 

I350- 

Diaper  work,  an  ornament  of 
leafage  applied  to  a  plain 
surface  whether  carved  or 
painted.  If  carved  the 
flowers  are  entirely  sunk 
into  the  work  below  the 
general  surface,  usually 
square  and  placed  close  to- 
gether, but  occasionally 
other  arrangements  are 
used.  Diapering  is  a 
continuous  pattern,  in  con- 
tradistinction to  detached 
or  scattered  patterns,  which 
is  called  powdering.  The 


344 


DI-X'OKATKI)     WINDOW 

SS.     I'KTKK    AND    l>\n..    \V\NT\CK. 


To  (nee  p.  344. 


GLOSSARY 


word  is  more  strictly  applic- 
able to  textile  work ;  it  is 
derived  from  Diasprus,  a 
precious  sort  of  rich  stuff, 
frequently  mentioned  in 
dhurch  inventories,  as, 
"  Pluviale  Diasprum  cum 
Phrygiis." 

Dog-tooth,  a  pyramidal  orna- 
ment generally  forming  one 
of  a  series  close  together, 
resembling  a  row  of  teeth. 
The  common  form  has  a 
base,  square  or  approxi- 
mately square.  and  is 
formed  by  the  points  of  four 
leaves  radiating  from  a 
raised  centre. 

Dom,  strictly  speaking,  this 
is  the  German  equivalent  for 
"  cathedral  "  (Italian  duo- 
mo),  but  it  Ls  also  applied 
to  the  head  church  of  a  city 
or  town,  whether  the  seat 
of  a  bishop  or  not. 
Domical  vaulting,  vaulting  in 
which  the  dome  or  cupola 
shape  is  employed  in  contra- 
distinction to  a  wagon-head 
or  a  vault  of  moderate 
pitch  with  ribs  dividing  it 
into  cells,  which  the  domi- 
cal vault  sometimes  has, 
especially  in  Southern 
French  and  German  archi- 
tecture. 

Doom,  the  ecclesiological  term 
for  a  representation  of  the 
Last  Judgment,  whether  ki 
painting  or  sculpture.  It 
was  usually  depicted  over 
the  chancel  arch  in  parish 
churches. 

Dripstone,  called  also  label, 
weather  moulding,  and 
water  table,  a  projecting 
tablet  or  moulding  over  the 
heads  of  doorways,  win- 
dows, pier  arches,  etc.  ;  used 
externally  to  throw  off  the 
rain. 


Early  English,  the  term  used 
by  Rickman,  Parker,  Whe- 
well  and  others  to  denote 
the  first  of  the  pointed 
styles  used  in  this  country 
after  its  complete  emanci- 
pation from  the  Norman. 
It  is,  like  the  terms  "  Deco- 
rated "  and  "  Perpendicu- 
lar "  a  very  expressive  one. 
Sometimes  called  "  first 
pointed  "  or  "  thirteenth 
century." 

Easter  sepulchre,  a  place 
where  the  Blessed  Sacra- 
ment was  solemnly  reserved 
from  Good  Friday  till 
Easter  Day.  There  were  two 
kinds,  (i)  permanent,  built 
in  the  north  walls  of  chan- 
cels, (2)  composed  of  frame- 
work and  rich  hanging  set 
up  for  the  occasion.  The 
finest  examples  of  the  stone 
Easter  sepulchre  (which 
seems  to  have  been  peculiar 
to  England)  are  the  deco- 
rated ones  in  Lincoln  Cathe- 
dral ;  Heckington  and 
Navenby  Churches  (Lincoln- 
shire) ;  Patrington  (York- 
shire) and  Hawton  (Not- 
tinghamshire. A  fine  Per- 
pendicular one  exists  at 
Northwold  in  Norfolk ;  but 
there  are  few  parish 
churches  in  which  this  re- 
cess in  some  form  or  an- 
other may  not  be  seen.  In 
the  richer  examples  the 
front  of  the  base  or  tomb  is 
enriched  with  carved  re- 
presentations of  the  sleep- 
ing soldiers. 

Ecdesiology,     the     systematic 
study  of  the  requirements  of 


345 


GLOSSARY 


Divine  worship.  A  word 
coined  by  the  Cambridge 
Camden  Society  on  its  for- 
mation in  1839. 


Fan  tracery,  a  kind  of  vault- 
ing, peculiarly  English, 
which  came  in  towards  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, in  which  all  the  ribs 
that  rise  from  the  spring- 
ing of  the  vault  have  the 
same  curve,  and  diverge 
equally  in  every  direction, 
producing  an  effect  some- 
thing like  that  of  the  bones 
of  a  fan. 

Feretory  in  its  strict  sense 
implies  a  bier,  but  as  the 
shrines  containing  the  sa- 
cred relics  of  the  saints  were 
frequently  carried  in  solemn 
procession,  the  shrines 
themselves  in  course  of 
time  became  thus  desig- 
nated. In  mediaeval  times 
a  narrow  space  behind  the 
high  altar  of  a  cathedral  or 
large  church  was  so  called. 

Finial,  the  flower  or  bunch  of 
carved  ornament  terminat- 
ing a  pinnacle,  a  gable,  or 
the  ogee  form  of  arch. 

First  pointed,  the  Ecclesiolo- 
gical  Society's  term  for  the 
Early  English  or  thirteenth- 
century  style. 

Flcche,  the  French  architec- 
tural term  for  a  spirelet 
or  small  spire,  frequently 
placed  at  the  intersection  of 
the  four  arms  of  a  cruci- 
form church. 

Foil,  a  leaf-shaped  form  pro- 
duced by  adding  cusps 
(q.v.)  to  the  curved  out- 


line of  a  window-head  or 
circle  forming  its  tracery. 
Fret,  a  band-like  ornament 
composed  of  right  lines 
which  meet  one  another  at 
abrupt  angles. 


Grisaille,  a  term  applied  to 
that  kind  of  stained  glass  in 
which  geometrical  or  floral 
patterns  are  employed  in- 
stead of  single  figures  or 
groups,  and  the  tone  of 
which  is  a  greyish-white. 

Groin,  the  curved  line  made 
by  the  meeting  of  the  sur- 
faces of  two  vaults  or  por- 
tions of  vaults  which  inter- 
sect. The  groining  rib  is  a 
bar  of  masonry  or  mould- 
ing projecting  beyond  the 
general  surface  of  a  vault 
to  mark  its  intersection,  or 
subdivide  its  surface,  and  to 
add  strength. 


H 


Hammer-beam,  a  short  beam 
securing  the  foot  of  the 
principal  rafter  to  the  brace, 
strut  or  tie,  and  in  a  sense 
replacing  the  tie-beam. 
The  hammer-beam  is  usu- 
ally horizontal,  and  forms 
part  of  at  least  two  of  the 
triangles  of  construction, 
viz.  one  above  connected 
with  the  principal  rafter, 
and  the  other  below,  and 
connected  with  a  wall 
piece.  The  object  sought 
in  re-placing  the  tie-beam  by 


346 


GLOSSARY 


hammer-beams  is  usually 
interior  decorative  effect. 
Hexagon,  a  six-sided  figure, 
mystically  signifying  the 
attributes  of  God — blessing, 
honour,  glory,  power,  wis- 
dom and  majesty. 


J 


Jesse,  a  favourite  mediaeval 
representation  of  the  gene- 
alogy of  Christ  in  which 
the  different  persons  form- 
ing the  descent  are  placed 
within  scrolls  of  foliage 
branching  out  from  a  cen- 
tral stem  which  rises  from 
the  loins  of  a  recumbent 
figure  of  Jesse.  It  is  found 
chiefly  in  stained  glass — a 
window  of  an  uneven  num- 
ber of  compartments  being 
necessary  for  its  proper  ac- 
complishment ;  and  occa- 
sionally carved  in  stone 
within  the  heads  of  door- 
ways. In  Dorchester 
Abbey,  Oxon,  the  mullions 
and  tracery  of  the  window 
on  the  south  side  of  the 
sanctuary  are  covered  with 
figures  representing  this 
subject.  The  idea  of 
treating  our  Lord's  gene- 
alogy under  the  semblance 
of  a  vine,  arose  most  prob- 
ably from  the  passage  in 
Isaiah  :  "  Egredietur  virga 
de  radice  Jesse,  et  flos  de 
radice  eius  ascendet."  The 
personages,  royal  and  other, 
mentioned  in  the  first  chap- 
ter of  St  Matthew's  Gospel, 
among  which  the  Kings, 
David  and  Solomon,  occupy 
distinguished  places,  have 
their  names  usually  in- 


scribed on  a  label  enclosed 
in  the  tendrils  of  the  vine, 
close  to  the  figure  repre- 
sented. Near  the  summit 
is  usually  placed  the  Virgin 
and  Child,  but  the  stem  does 
not  extend  to  Him  on 
account  of  His  Divine  In- 
carnation. There  are  how- 
ever, examples  of  Jesse's  ter- 
minating in  the  crucifixion. 
One  of  the  earliest  examples 
of  a  Jesse  window  is  in 
Chartres  Cathedral  (twelfth 
century). 


K 


King-post,  in  a  truss,  as  fora 
roof,  a  vertical  member 
connecting  the  tie-beam 
(q.v.)  with  the  point  of 
meeting  of  the  two  prin- 
cipal rafters.  The  queen- 
post  is  one  of  two  vertical 
members  or  side  posts  be- 
tween the  principals  and 
the  lower  chord. 


Lancet,  an  acutely  pointed 
window  of  one  opening 
peculiar  to  the  architecture 
of  the  latter  part  of  the 
twelfth,  and  the  early  part 
of  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  frequently  found  ar- 
ranged in  groups  of  from 
three  to  seven.  The  term  is 
sometimes  applied  to  tall 
windows  of  the  round- 
arched  period. 

Lancet  style,  a  generic  name 
for  the  early  pure  Gothic ; 
also  called  "Early  English  " 
and  "first  pointed." 


347 


GLOSSARY 


Lean-to  roofed  aisle,  one 
whose  roof  is  formed  in  a 
single  slope  with  the  top 
resting  against  the  wall 
of  the  nave  below  the 
clerestory. 

Lantern,  a  term  sometimes 
applied  to  the  louvres  (tur- 
rets) on  the  roofs  of  halls, 
etc. ;  a  central  tower,  when 
open  for  a  considerable  dis- 
tance above  the  arches. 
(See  under  "  Crossing.") 

Lierne,  a  term  applied  to  a 
kind  of  vaulting  in  which 
the  ridge  or  longitudinal 
rib,  the  diagonal  and  the 
wall  ribs  are  tied  or  bound 
together  by  short  ones  pro- 
ducing an  effect  of  great 
intricacy.  Probably  derived 
from  the  French  her,  to 
bind. 

Light,  one  of  the  divisions  of 
a  window  of  which  the 
width  is  divided  by  one  or 
more  mullions. 

Lintel,  the  stone  or  beam 
covering  a  doorway  or  win- 
dow-head, and  often  used 
in  conjunction  with  an 
arch,  the  space  between 
them,  called  the  tympanum, 
being  filled  with  a  sculp- 
tured group,  or  tracery, 
which  in  Continental  Gothic 
work  is  frequently  glazed. 
The  tympanum,  solid  or 
pierced,  is  rarely  found  in 
English  Gothic  work  after 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  though  in  foreign 
work  it  was  used  until  the 
extinction  of  the  style  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  English 
sculptured  tympana  are 
found  chiefly  in  the  small 
doorways  of  the  Anglo- 
Norman  period. 


348 


M 

Majesty,  a  sculptured  or 
painted  figure  of  our  Lord 
seated,  enthroned  and 
crowned,  and  generally  in 
the  act  of  benediction.  It 
was  a  favourite  subject  for 
the  semi-dome  of  an  apse 
or  the  tympanum  of  a  door- 
way. 

Middle  pointed,  the  Ecclesi- 
logical  Society's  term  for 
that  period  of  Gothic  which 
flourished,  roughly  speak- 
ing, from  1270  to  1350. 

Minster,  a  word  signifying  in 
its  true  sense,  the  church 
of  a  monastery,  or  one  to 
which  a  monastery  has  been 
attached,  but  it  has  come 
to  be  applied  to  cathedrals 
which  were  never  the 
churches  of  religious  houses, 
as  York  and  Lincoln. 

MuUion,  the  slender  pier  which 
forms  the  division  between 
the  lights  or  compartments 
of  a  window,  screen,  etc. 


N 


Nail-head,  a  small  projecting 
feature  common  in  Roman- 
esque and  Early  English 
architecture,  and  resembling 
a  rough  four-sided  pyra- 
mid. 

Nave,  the  portion  of  the 
church  in  which  the  congre- 
gation assists  during  the 
celebration  of  Divine  Ser- 
vice. It  extends  from  the 
west  end  to  the  transept  or 
choir.  The  derivation  of 
the  word  "  nave  "  has  been 
a  matter  of  dispute.  Some 
derive  it  from  the  Greek 
I'tiof,  a  temple ;  others  from 


CJMC*,  MKMCT. 


DKTAII.S    Or    TIIK    PKR  1'K \I)K  I   1.  \R    IM-RIOD, 


I'KR    CAllll-DK'Al,     HICI-ORK     ITS   UESTOKA11ON, 
(From  drawings  by  Whymper.     c.   1840.) 
ce  p.  348. 


CAMKKKI    RV     CATU I-DRAL. 
(The  Nave,   looking  east.) 


GLOSSARY 


the  Latin  navis,  a  ship  (a 
figure  often  used  with  refer- 
ence to  the  church),  since 
the  nave  resembles  the  hull 
of  a  ship  turned  upside 
down ;  and  refer  both  this 
term  and  "Aos  also  to  the 
ancient  Phoenicians,  whose 
original  temples  were  said 
to  be  their  vessels  thus 
reversed. 


O 

Ogee,  a  moulding  waved  in 
its  contour,  concave  at  top 
and  convex  at  bottom.  An 
ogee  arch  is  struck  from 
four  centres,  two  in  or  near 
the  springing  and  two 
others  above  it,  reversed. 
One  of  the  earliest  examples 
of  the  ogee  occurs  in  a 
tomb  in  the  north  aisle  of 
Salisbury  Cathedral  (c. 
1246).  It  was  not  exten- 
sively used  until  the  middle 
of  the  fourteenth  century. 

Orphrey,  in  French  orphori, 
which  etymologists  explain 
by  Frange  d'or.  It  signi- 
fies a  band  or  bands  of  gold 
and  rich  embroidery,  affixed 
to  vestments.  The  Latin 
name  (aurifrisium)  expresses 
accurately  its  meaning  and 
etymology. 


Parallel-triapsidal,  the  term 
applied  to  the  plan  of  a 
church  in  which  the  aisles 
as  well  as  the  choir  end  in 
apses ;  or  when  the  choir 
has  no  aisles  there  is  an 
apse  on  the  eastern  side  of 
either  transept. 

Pardose,  a  screen  of  stone  or 


wood  separating  the  chancel 
of  a  church  from  its  aisles, 
or  a  chapel  from  the  main 
body  of  the  church. 

Pendentive,  the  internal 
mechanical  structure  intro- 
duced to  connect  the  square 
story  of  a  tower  with  an 
octagonal  one,  sometimes 
styled  squinch. 

Perpendicular  style,  the  last 
of  the  styles  of  pointed 
Gothic  architecture  which 
flourished  in  this  country 
(c.  1350-1550). 

Pier,  the  solid  mass  between 
doors,  windows,  arches  and 
other  openings  in  buildings. 
The  name  is  used  indiffer- 
ently, but  incorrectly,  for 
isolated  columns  in  Gothic 
and  Classic  architecture. 

Pinnacle,  a  small  turret,  usu- 
ally tapering  towards  the 
top,  much  used  in  Gothic 
architecture  at  the  angles 
of  towers,  and  as  a  termina- 
tion to  buttresses,  etc. 

Piscina,  a  shallow  basin  or 
sink  supplied  with  a  drain- 
pipe, generally  recessed  in 
a  niche  which  is  often  ela- 
borately ornamented.  It  is 
always  found  in  the  wall  on 
the  south  or  epistle  side  of 
the  altar,  sometimes  form- 
ing part  of  the  composition 
of  the  sedilia  to  which  it  is 
always  in  close  contiguity. 
It  is  used  to  receive  the 
rinsings  of  the  chalice  at 
the  close  of  the  Eucharistic 
Office. 

Plate  tracery,  that  kind  of 
solid  tracery  which  appears 
as  if  formed  by  piercing  a 
flat  stone  surface  with  two 
lancets  and  a  circle,  a  dia- 
mond, or  a  quatrefoil.  It 
was  rarely  used  in  England 
on  a  large  scale. 


349 


GLOSSARY 


Pointed,  the  emphatically 
Christian  architecture  com- 
monly called  Gothic,  char- 
acterised chiefly  by  the 
painted  arch,  and  con- 
trasting in  almost  every  par- 
ticular with  the  round-arch 
architecture  from  which  it 
was  developed. 

Presbytery,  the  space  in  cathe- 
drals and  large  churches  be- 
tween the  choir  stalls  and 
the  altar.  As  the  word 
implies,  it  was  the  place 
assigned  to  the  bishop  and 
presbyters,  and  none  else 
were  admitted  to  it.  It  was 
usually  elevated  one  step 
above  the  rest  of  the  choir, 
hence  the  architectural  term 
gradus  presbyterii.  The 
term  has  now  become  obso- 
lete, but  it  may  still  be 
applied  to  those  cathedrals 
where  the  eastern  limb 
being  short,  the  choir  stalls 
are  placed  under  the  cen- 
tral tower — as  at  Chichester, 
St  David's,  Gloucester,  and 
Winchester. 

Precession  path,  a  continua- 
tion of  the  choir  aisles  be- 
hind the  high  altar  in  an 
ap.sidal  or  a  square-ended 
choir. 


0 

Quatrcfail,  a  figure  con- 
structed in  the  form  of  a 
cross,  or  four  equal  seg- 
ments of  circles,  either 
intersecting  or  stopped  by 
angh-s.  Used  in  the  circles 
of  window  tracery,  in  the 
heads  of  doorways,  etc. 


Reredos,  called  by  Bishop 
Andrewes,  "  the  back 
piece."  The  generic  term 
for  the  wall  or  screen 
at  the  back  of  an  altar, 
whether  in  carved  stone, 
wood,  or  metal  work.  When 
tapestry  is  used,  it  is  styled 
the  "  dossal  "  or  "  dorsal." 

Respond,  a  half-pillar  attached 
to  a  wall  to  support  an  arch 
at  the  extremities  of  an 
arcade ;  sometimes  it  as- 
sumes the  form  of  a  corbel. 
The  term  is  also  applied  to 
the  half-pillars  or  corbels 
supporting  an  arch  between 
the  nave  and  the  chancel. 

Reticulated  tracery ,  formed 
by  the  repetition  of  the  same 
foliated  opening,  usually 
an  ogee  quatrefoil,  but 
occasionally  a  trefoil. 

Retro-choir,  an  aisle,  or  area, 
providing  a  free  passage 
round  and  behind  a  choir 
and  altar,  sometimes  called 
the  procession,  path. 

Returned  stalls,  stalls  which, 
besides  running  longitudin- 
ally, are  returned  trans- 
versely at  the  western  end 
of  the  choir. 

Ridge  rib,  the  projecting 
moulding  on  the  vault  of  a 
church  which  runs  at  the 
point  from  one  end  to  the 
other.  It  is  almost  invari- 
ably used  in  English  work 
of  all  epochs,  but  rarely  in 
that  of  the  Continent. 

Roll,  a  term  applied  to  any 
convex  rounded  moulding 
approaching  wholly,  or  in 
part,  a  cylindrical  form. 

Romanesque,  the  generic 
name  for  that  style  of  round- 
arched  architecture  vvhiicjh 
prevailed  in  Europe  from 


350 


I  III,    KKKKDOS,    All.    SOfl.S      (<  )1. 1.K(  .[•.    CH  Al'l-.I.,     OXFORD. 


To  (ace  p.  350. 


GLOSSARY 


the     fifth     century    to    the 
middle  of  the  twelfth. 


Saddle-back  or  Pack-saddle 
roofed  tower,  one  not  hay- 
ing its  sides  of  equal  height, 
but  two  of  them  raised  in 
gables,  over  which  is  con- 
structed a  common  roof, 
which  in  some  cases  gables 
transversely  to  the  axis  of 
the  church. 

Sanctuary,  the  eastern  part  of 
a  cathedral  or  church  imme- 
diately surrounding  the 
altar. 

Sedilia,  seats  near  an  altar, 
almost  universally  on  the 
south  side  for  the  ministers 
officiating  at  the  Holy 
Eucharist  or  at  Vespers  to 
retire  to  during  the  sing- 
ing of  certain  parts  of  the 
service.  They  are  generally 
three  in  number — for  the 
celebrant,  epistoler,  and 
gospeller.  In  some  cases  as 
at  Gloucester,  Bristol,  and 
Durham  Cathedrals,  a 
fourth  seat  is  provided — 
presumably  for  the  cere- 
moniarius.  During  the 
Early  English,  Decorated, 
and  Perpendicular  periods, 
much  care  and  skill  was 
lavished  in  the  ornamental 
accessories  of  these  seats, 
which  are  almost  invariably 
recessed  in  the  wall. 

Set-off,  a  diminution  in  hori- 
zontal size  of  a  buttress, 
commonly  spoken  of  as  a 
weathering,  which  term 
applies  properly  to  the  ex- 
posed pieces  of  stone. 

Shaft,  the  body  of  a  column 
or  pillar ;  the  part  between 


the  capital  and  the  base; 
but  usually  applied  to  the 
small  columns  clustered 
round  pillars,  or  used  in  the 
jambs  of  doors  and  win- 
dows, in  arcades,  and 
various  other  situations. 

Soffit,  the  underside  of  an 
arch. 

Spandrel,  the  triangular 
space  included  between  an 
arch  and  a  rectangle  formed 
by  the  string-course  over  it. 

Splay,  a  surface  making  an 
oblique  angle  with  another ; 
usually  applied  to  the  ob- 
lique jamb  of  an  opening, 
as  in  a  window  or  a  door- 
way. 

Squinch,  a  small  arch  formed 
across  the  angles  of  towers 
to  support  the  oblique  sides 
of  octagonal  spires,  lan- 
terns, etc.  above;  some- 
times styled  pendentive. 

Stall,  a  fixed  seat  of  wood  en- 
closed, either  wholly  or 
partially,  at  the  back  and 
sides.  All  cathedrals  and 
conventual  churches  and 
many  parochial  churches 
previous  to  the  Reformation, 
had  a  range  of  wooden 
stalls  on  each  side  of  the 
choir  or  chancel,  which  were 
separated  from  each  other 
by  large  projecting  elbows, 
with  desks  fixed  before 
them.  Frequently  they  were 
enclosed  at  the  back  with 
panelling,  and  were  sur- 
mounted by  overhanging 
canopies  of  open  tabernacle 
work,  which  were  often 
carried  to  a  great  height, 
and  highly  enriched  with 
pinnacles,  crockets,  pierced 
tracery,  and  other  orna- 
ments. 

String-course,      a      projecting 


351 


GLOSSARY 


horizontal  (or  occasionally 
sloping)  band  or  line  of 
mouldings. 

Subarcuation,  the  introduc- 
tion within  a  wide  round  or 
pointed  arch  of  two  or  more 
lesser  arches. 


Tie-beam,  the  horizontal  beam 
connecting  the  lower  ex- 
tremities of  the  rafters  of 
a  roof. 

Tracery,  the  term  for  the 
ramification  of  mullions  in 
Gothic  windows,  forming 
geometrical  and  other 
figures.  The  various  styles 
are,  perhaps,  more  readily 
distinguished  by  their  tra- 
cery than  by  any  other 
means. 

Transept,  any  part  of  a  church 
that  projects  at  right  angles 
from  the  body  (that  is,  the 
high  central  part  either  of 
nave  or  choir)  and  is  of 
equal  or  nearly  equal  height 
to  it.  It  gives  to  a  church 
its  cruciform  arrangement. 
The  word  is  sometimes  used 
in  the  singular  to  include 
both  the  north  and  south 
arms. 

Transom,  a  horizontal  mullion 
in  windows,  much  used  in 
the  Perpendicular  style.  It 
appears  late  in  the  prece- 
ding Decorated  style  in  the 
choir  of  Bristol  Cathedral. 

Transverse-triapsidal,  a  term 
applied  to  a  church  in  which 
the  transepts  as  well  as  the 
choir  terminate  in  apses. 

Tri/orium,  a  gallery  or  arcade 


when  the  aisle  is  vaulted, 
and  forming  a  passage 
over  the  aisle  of  a  church 
tween  the  lean-to  roof  and 
the  arcades  opening  on  to 
the  nave  or  choir.  On  the 
Continent  this  thorough- 
fare, which  of  course  can 
only  be  employed  when  the 
aisles  are  vaulted,  is  fre- 
quently groined. 
Triplet,  a  term  used  to  express 
a  group  of  three  lancet  win- 
dows. Similarly  we  have 
Quintuplet  for  a  group  of 
five  such  windowt. 


Vesica  Piscis,  a  symbolical 
figure  consisting  of  two 
intersecting  segments  of 
circles,  introduced  as  an  em- 
blem of  our  Lord. 

Void,  a  certain  space  left  by 
the  designer  in  the  appar- 
ently solid  portions  of  a 
building  as  much  for  light- 
ness as  for  artistic  or  econ- 
omic reasons. 

Volute,  a  spiral  scroll,  es- 
pecially that  which  forms 
the  distinctive  feature  of  the 
Ionic  capital,  which  is  re- 
peated in  the  horns  of  the 
Corinthian  and  composite 
capitals. 


W 

i 

Wall  plate,  the  horizontal 
piece  of  timber  at  the  top 
of  a  wall  immediately 
under  the  roof. 


352 


INDEX 


ABACUS,  the,  159 

Abbey  Dore,  96 

Acton  Burnell,  172 

Adderbury,  240,  277 

Addington,  Great,  268 

Alderbury,  26g 

Aldwincle,  233,  234 

Altenberg,  96,  97,  161 

Amiens,  19,  121,  172,  175,  255 

Anglo  Norman  style,  the,  51 
et  seq.,  list  of  some  of  the 
most  remarkable  specimens, 
100 

Anglo  Saxon  style,  the,  45, 
48,  49 

Anselm,  St,    134 

Antiquarianism,  2 

Anwick,  238 

Apse,  the,  61.  91,  117,  143, 
254 

Architectural  terms,  glossary 
of,  341 

Architecture,  Gothic,  i  :  arts 
auxiliary  to,  2  ;  its  alliance 
with  history,  5 ;  continual 
movement  of,  6 ;  nomen- 
clature of  styles  of,  7 ; 
localities  for  the  study  of, 
10;  influence  of  local 
scenery  upon,  n;  forms 
assumed  in  different 
countries,  14;  English  and 
French  contrasted.  19; 
Anglo  Saxon,  45,  48,  49; 
Anglo  Norman,  51  et  seq.  ; 
Early  English  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  107  et 
seq.  ;  Decorated  of  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth 
centuries,  249  et  seq ;  Per- 
pendicular, 332 


Arundel,  255 

Athelwold,  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, 45,  49 

Augustine,  St,  42 

Aumsby,  179,  238 

Austin  Friars,  Church  of  the, 
London,  254,  259,  303 

Aynhoe,  268 


B 


BADGWORTH,  271 
Ball-flower  ornament,  271 
Barfreston,  67,  88 
Barnack,  232 
Barnwell,  233 
Bartholomew,    St,    Smithfield, 

58,  83 

Basilica,  the,  32 
Bayham  Abbey,  254 
Beauvais,    172,   256 
Bedfordshire,  240 
Belgium,  147,  260 
Bell-cot,  the,  186 
Beverley     Minster,     169,     174, 

175,  271,  27; 
Billingham,   163 
Bingham,  240 
Bishop's  Cannings,  183 
Bloxham,  228,  240 
Bonn,  91 
Boppart,  92 
Boston,  254,  259 
Bourges  Cathedral,  19,  176 
Bowman        and        Crowther's 

"  Churches    of    the    Middle 

Ages,"  263 
Brackley,  172 
Bradfield,    177 
Brailes,  263 
Brampton,  233 
Bridlington,   175,  257 


353 


INDEX 


Hrigstock,  232 

Bristol  Cathedral,  54.  273 

Bristol     St     Mary,     Redcliffe, 

271 
Britain,         early         Christian 

churches  in,  38,  40,  41 
Brittany,  41 
Brixworth,  47 
Brown  so  ver,   170 
Brunswick,   15 
Buildwas.  83 
Burford,  240 

Butterfield,  William,  250,  264 
Byland,  96 


CAEN,  61,  71,  86,  146 
Cambridge,  58,  226 
Cambridgeshire,   churches  of, 

223,   3'5 

Canons  Ashby,  220 
Canterbury  Cathedral,  43,  66, 

71",' 81,   131,   133,   136,   199 
Carlisle    Cathedral,    255,    258, 

262,  271,  272,  276,  299 
Carpenter,  Richard,  254 
Carter,  John,  305 
Carving,  stone,  176,  187,  269; 

wood,    276 

Castle   Rising.   42,   61,    169 
Catacombs,    the    Roman,    28 
Cathedrals  (see  under  names) 
Chaddesley  Corbet,  267 
Chancels,  Norman  vaulted,  61 
Chapter-houses,  205  ;  Lincoln, 

206 ;   Westminster,   208 
Chartres  Cathedral,   19 
Chester    Cathedral,    169,    267, 

280 

Chetwode,    169,  204 
Chichester  Cathedral,  07,  172, 

2^.    267,     275,     276 

Chichester,  Church  of  the 
Gfi-v  Friars.  170:  Chapel  of 
St  Mary's  Hospital.  276 

Chipstead,   166 

Choirs,  English  modes  of 
termination  and  extension, 

124.     MI,    254,    2Q2 

Christchurch,   Priory   Church, 

55-   '/?.  -75 
Church,    historical    sketch    of 

the  fabric  of,  24  el  seq. 


Churches,  early  Christian  and 
British,  26,  32,  36,  38,  40, 

4i,  M2 

Churches,  Austin  Friars, 
London,  303 ;  St  Bartholo- 
mew's, Smithfield,  83 ; 
Brixworth,  47 ;  Cambridge- 
shire, 223,  315;  Castle 
Rising,  42;  Chetwode,  169, 
204;  Clymping,  157;  Cog- 
geshall,  220;  Elmham, 
South,  42  ;  St  Etheldreda's, 
Ely  Place,  301  ;  Hawton, 
307:  Huntingdonshire,  239; 
Hythe,  222  ;  St  John's  in  the 
White  Tower,  58,  62,  80; 
Leicestershire,  254;  Lin- 
colnshire, 237,  263 ;  Merton 
College  Chapel,  Oxford, 
282,  325;  Nantwich,  309; 
Norfolk,  311  ;  Northampton- 
shire, 227 ;  Nun  Monkton, 
217;  Patrington,  313;  Per- 
shore,  297;  Reculver,  41; 
Skelton,  115,  215;  Stone, 
115,  117,  222;  Sutton  St 
Mary,  171,  183;  Temple  Bal- 
sall,  264;  Temple  Church, 
London,  99,  114:  Tewkes- 
bury,  327;  Uffington,  221; 
Warmington,  178;  Weston, 
1 66;  West  Walton,  182,  183; 
Westwell,  1 66 

Cistercian  Order,  its  influence 
on  architecture,  96 

Cley-next-the-Sea,     266,     271, 

3i  i 

Clun,   58 

Cluny,    135 

Clyffe,  St  Margaret's  at,  58, 
67 

Clymping,    157,   161 

Coggeshall,  220 

Colouring,  English  mediaeval, 
3'7 

Colouring,  local,  13 

Columns,  Norman,  57;  transi- 
tional, 04:  Early  English, 
108,  162;  Decorated,  257 

Comminges,  St  Bertrand  de, 
Chyrch  at,  12 

Conquest,  Norman,  its  influ- 
ence on  English  architec- 
ture, 50,  70 

Conrad,  Prior,   133 


354 


INDEX 


Constantine  the  Great,  30,  32 
Corinthian  Order,  the,  66 
Cotterstock,  230,  232 
Coutances  Cathedral,  256 
Coventry,  240 
Cropredy,  260,  276 
Cuddesdon,  231 
Curvilinear  tracery,  263,  267 


DECORATED  STYLE,  the,  240  et 
seq.  \  list  of  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  English  build- 
ings, 335 

Denis,  St,  82 

Dol,  256 

Donnington,  263 

Dooriways,    174 

Dorchester  Abbey,  258,  263, 
264,  273 

Dover,   58,  260 

Down  Ampney,  241 

Dublin,  St  Patrick's  Cathe- 
dral, 128 

Dunblane,  171 

Dunstable,  55 

Durham  Cathedral,  87,  135, 
165,  267 


EARL'S     BARTON,    228,    232 

Early  English  style,  the,  107 
et  seq. ;  list  of  some  of  the 
most  remarkable  examples 
of,  244 

Easter  sepulchres,  273 

Ecclesiological  Society,  the, 
Q 

Ecclesiology,  2 

Elkstone,  68 

Elmham,  South,  42 

Elsfield,  167 

Ely  Cathedral,  163,  i6g,  174, 
182,  214,  226,  255.  271,  275, 
276,  277,  278,  330 

English  Cathedrals  and 
Churches,  18 

English  and  French  architec- 
ture contrasted,  19 

Ernulf,  Prior,   133 

Etchingbam,  263 


Etheldreda,  St,  Ely  Place,  277 
301 

Europe,  variety  in  the  archi- 
tecture of,  14 

Ewerby,  238,  263 

Exeter  Cathedral,  172,  255, 
257,  260,  261,  271,  273,  276, 
290,  326 

Exton,  238 


FABRIC     OF     THE     CHURCH, 
sketch  of  the  history  of,  24 
Felmersham,  161,  183 
Finedon,  232,  233 
Fisherton  Delamere,  167 
Fortunatus,  Venantius,  47 
Fotheringhay,  231.  234 
Fountains  Abbey,  06,  135.  165 
Fourteenth-century  style,  mag- 
nificence of  the,  320 
Frampton,  238 
France,    14,    82,   87,    88,    114, 

IIQ,  144,  255 

Freiburg  im  Breisgau,  16 
French    and    English    Gothic 

contrasted,  19 

Frideswide's,  St,  shrine,   106 
Furness  Abbey,  96 


GABLED  TOWERS,  181 

Geddington,  276 

Gedney,   183,  263 

Geometrical  tracery,  264 

Germany,   14,  90.   136,  147 

Gisburn,  177 

Glossary  of  architectural 
terms,  341 

Gloucester  Cathedral,  128, 
267 

Gothic  Architecture,  nomen- 
clature of  styles  of,  7 

Grantham,  238,  258,  271 

Great  Milton,  160 

Guisborough,  264 

H 


HALESOWEN,  58,  177 
Hartlepool,   163 
Hawton,  272,  273,  307 


355 


INDEX 


Heckington,     238,     263,     272, 

273 

Heisterbach,  96 
Helena,   St,  39 
Helpringham,    238 
Hemel  Hempstead,  61,  68 
Hereford  Cathedral,  125,  135, 

i6g,  170,  255,  271,  272 
Herford,   15 
Herne,  266 
Hexham,   160 
Higham     Ferrers,     195,     228, 

255,  27.7 
Hildesheim,  15 
Hingham,  250 
Holbeach,  238,  263 
Honnecourt,  Villard  de,    123 
Horton  Priory,  68 
Howden,  25Q,  264,  272,  283 
Hugh,  St,   130 
Hull,  Holy  Trinity,  250 
Huntingdonshire,  churches  of, 

239 
Hythe,  169,  222 


I 


ICKFORD,    l8l 
Iffley,  61,  68 
Ilkstone,  61 
Irchester,  228,  233 
Irthlingborough,       173,       228, 

232,  268 
I  slip,  233 
Italy,  16,  153 


I 


JERUSALEM,  25 

Jervaulx,  96 

Jesse  window,  the,  324 

John's,    St,    in   White    Tower, 

58,  62,  80 
Jumieges,  70 


KETTERING,  233 
Ketton,  161,  179,  238 
Kidlington,  2^1,  277 
Kilpeck,  61,  68,  87 
King's  Sutton.  233 
KiiLgsthorpe,   58,  233 
Kirkstall,    165,    168 


LAACH,  91 

Lady  Chapels,    125,    126,   128, 

129,  254 

Lancet  windows,   166 
Lanfranc,  Archbishop,  71,  72, 

133 

Langham,  238 

Langton,  Bishop,  292 

Laon,  92 

Leake,  276 

Leicester,  234,  259,  277 

Leicestershire,     churches     of, 

234 

Leighton  Buzzard,  179 
Le  Mans,  255 
Lemgp,    15 
Leominster,  271 
Leon,  2^3 
Lichfield  Cathedral,   172,  255, 

261,  270,  284,  292 
Limburg  on  Lahn,  92 
Lincoln    Cathedral,     54,     115, 

123,   no,  164,  170,  172,  174, 

183,  186,  201,  205,  255,  266, 

27.0,  272,  275,  280,  284 
Lincoln,   St  Mary-le-Wigford, 

167 
Lincolnshire,      churches      of, 

237*  263 
Lindisfarne,   87 
Llandaff  Cathedral,  262 
Llantysilio,  178 
Local    scenery,    its    influence 

upon  architecture,   n 
Lombardy,    16 
London,  early  British,  38 
Long  Stanton,    161,    186,   227, 

278 

Lostwithiel,  241 
Louth,  238 
Lowick,  234 
Lubcck,  15 
Ludlow,  262 
Lynn,  266,  276 


M 


356 


MADELEY,  254 
Magdeburg,  15 
Mantes,  92 


INDEX 


Manuscripts,  early  illumin- 
ated, 40 

Maplestead,  Little,  2*4 

Margate,  58 

Market  Deeping,  163 

Market  Harborough,  236 

Maulbronn,  g6 

Mayence,  gi 

Melton  Mowbray,  250 

Merton  College  Chapel, 
Oxford,  266,  282,  325 

Middleton  Cheney,  233 

Middleton  Stoney,  183 

Mildenhall,  265 

Milton  Abbey,  262 

Minden,  15 

Minster,  58 

Moccas,  61 

Monasticism,  its  influence 
on  church  architecture,  47 


OAKHAM,  238 

Ockham,   170 

Osnabriick,  15 

Ottery  St  Mary,  266 

Oundle,  161,  232,  233 

Over,  263,  277 

Oxford    Cathedral,    169,    179, 

ig6,  2^5,  262 
Oxford,        Merton        College 

Chapel,  282,  325 ;  St  PetePs 

in  the   East,   61  ;   St   Giles, 

161  ;  St  Mary's,  271 


Monmouthshire,  gabled  towers  '   PADERBORN,  15,  181 
in,  181  I   Painting,  English  mediaeval. 


Mouldings,   158 
Moulton,  238 
Miinster,   14,   161 

N 

NANTWICH,  267,  309 

Nene  Valley,  churches  of  the, 
228 

Netley  Abbey,  160 

Neuss,  92 

Newark,  240,  254,  259,  262 

Newcastle,  260 

Norfolk,  311 

Norbury,  323 

Norman  architecture,  51  et 
seg. 

Norman  buildings,  list  of  the 
most  remarkable  ecclesias- 
tical in  England,  100 

Normandy,   180,  256 

Northampton,  St  Peter's,  68, 
228 

Northamptonshire,  churches 
of,  227 

Northborough,  186,  235 

Northfleet,  266,  276 

Noithwold,  Bishop  Hugh  de, 
163.  182,  214,  226 

Norwich  Cathedral,   129,  271 

Noyers,  Geoffrey  de,  99,  139 

Noyon,  92 

Nun  Monkton,  217 


3'7 

Pantheon,  the,  Rome,  33 

Paris,  Notre-Dame,  66,  92, 
176:  Sainte  Chapelle,  256 

Patrick's,  St,  Cathedral,  Dub- 
lin, 128 

Patrington   Church,  264,   273, 

313 

Patrixbourne,  67,  88 

Peakirk,  186 

Pershore,  171,  261,  297 

Peterborough  Cathedral,  129, 
172,  176 

Plate-tracery,  170 
;    Pointed  arch,  the,  74 
i    Poitiers,  89 
j    Polebrook,  160,  169,  179,  232, 

Pontigny,  96 


QUEENBOROUGH,  236 
Quentin.  St,  135 


RATISBON,  15 

Raunds,    172,    183,    232,    233, 

277 
Reculver,  41 


357 


INDEX 


Repton.  240 

Reredoses,  mediaeval,  273 
Reticulated  tracery,  262 
Rheims    Cathedral,    120,    122, 

172.   176 
Rhenish   church    architecture, 

QO 

Riddagshausen,  g6 

Ringstead,  232,  263 

Ripon  Cathedral,  46,  264,  273 

Roche  Abbey,  g6 

Rochester  Cathedral,  162,  177 

Romanesque  architecture,   68, 

7.s.  85 
Rome,  26 
Romney,  New,  68 
Romsey,  55,  278,  2/g 
Roofs,  177,  277 
Rose  windows,  266 
Rouen  Cathedral,   150.  256 
Rushden,  228,  232,  233 


SADDLE-BACK      OR      GABLED 

TOWER,  the,    180 

Salisbury  Cathedral,  115,  160, 
162,  172,  174,  183,  207,  2g7 

Scenery,  local,  its  influence 
upon  architecture,  1 1 

Scotland,  141 

Scott,  Sir  Gilbert,  120,  210, 
215,  302 

Sculpture,  Anglo  Norman,  62  ; 
Early  English,  187;  Decor- 
ated, 26g 

Scdilia,   27;; 

Seffrid.  Bishop,  07 

Selby  Abbey,  280,  2gi 

Senlis,  g2 

Sens  Cathedral,   137 

Sens,  William  of,   137 

Sharpe,  Edmund,  76 

Shotswell,  276 

Shrewsbury,  267 

Shrine?  of  the  Saints,   131 

Skeltnn  Church,   us,   186,  215 

Slrnford,   238 

Soe'st,    14,    i. Si 

Soissons     82,  g2 

Somptinp,  gi 

Southam,    170.   -40 

South  Mnrrton,   177 

Soathwark  Cathedral,   126 


358 


Southwell       Cathedral,       160, 

i6g,  104,  260,  270,  275 
Spires,  157.  233,  234,  238,  240, 

281 
Square  east  end,  the,  61,  117, 

141 
St  Albans  Cathedral,  Q3,  255, 

258,  2sg,  2Qi 
St  Asaph  Cathedral,  260 
St     David's     Cathedral,     i2g, 

183,  185,  271,  276 
Stained  class,  ig8,  321 
Stamford,  160,  183,  238 
Stanton,  Harcourt,  231 
Stanw.ick,  232,  233 
Stephen's,   St,   Chapel,   West- 
minster, 304 
Stone   Church,    115,    117,    170, 

171,   172,   174,   JQ4,  222 
Stowe,  61 
Street,  George  Edmund,   166, 

221,  222 
Strixton,   166 
Styles,    Gothic,    nomenclature 

of,  7. 

Sussex  churches,  157 
Sutton  St  Mary,  171,  182,  183 
Swithin,  St,  44 


TANSOR,  232 

Temple  Balsall,  264,  266,  273 

Temple  Church,   London,  04, 

gg,   114,   162 

Temple,  the,  Jerusalem,  2? 
Tewkesbury    Abbey,    55,    2^4, 

258,  261,  273,  327 
Thame,  231 
Thirteenth    century,    style    of 

the,  107  et  seq. 
Thorney  Abbey,  55 
Tickencote,  61 
Tintern,  258,  266 
Titchmarsh,  234 
Tombs,  275 
Tours  Cathedral,  256 
Tower,    St    John's    Chapel    in 

the,  62,  80 
Towers,  round,   so 
Towers   and   spires,    157,    178, 

183.  233,  238,  240,  281 
Tracery,  window,  122,  i6g,  261 
Transept,  the  eastern  or  choir, 

135 


INDEX 


Transitional  period,  the,  68 
et  seq_. ;  list  of  some  of  the 
most  remarkable  buildings 
of,  104 

Triforium,  the,  58,  QI,  295 

Tunstead,  259 


U 

UFFINGTON,  221,  268 
Upmarden,  177 
Upton,  6 1 


VAUGHAN,  Bishop,  130 
Vaulting,  61,  74,  oo,  207,  261 
Venantius  Fortunatus,  47 
Village   church,   the   English, 
241 


W 

WALSINGHAM,  Alan  of,  315 
Walsoken,  68 
Waltham,  55,  87 
Warmington,    178,     179,    232, 

Weekley,  233 
Wellingborough,  233,  267 
Wells  Cathedral,  115,  125,  135, 

174,  175,  183,  185,  255,  265, 

267,  277,  293 


Wells,  St  Cuthbert's,  162 

Wenlock,  58 

Werden,  92 

Westminster  Abbey,  70,  114 
117,  160,  172,  173,  174,  197, 
208,  261,  266,  371,  272,  287 

Weston,  1 66 

West  Walton,  163,  182,  187 

Westwell,  1 66 

Whaplode,  183 

Whiston,  233,  334 

Whittlesea,  240 

Wilby,   233 

Willis,  Professor,  71 

Wimborne,  170 

Winchelsea,  271,  273,  275,  277 

Winchester  Cathedral,  44,  115, 
125,  257,  276,  291  ;  St  Cross, 

?3 

Window  tracery,  122,  169,  261 
Witney.  179,  231,  240 
Wollaston,  179 
Woodwork,    177,  276 
Worcester  Cathedral,  131,  162, 

163,  171,  174,  261,  294 
Worksop,  55,  58,  68 
Worms  Cathedral,  91 
Wymondham,  55,  255 


YARMOUTH,  Great,  171 
York    Minster,    46,    115,    135, 
169,  200,  255,  258,  266,  267 
270,  275,  279.  286,  323 
Youlgrave,  58 


THE    NORTHUMBERLAND    I'KBSS,    THORNTON    STREET,    NEMVCASTl.B-UrON-TYNS 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 

Architecture  &  Urban  Planning  Library,  825-2747. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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